The EC authorized the payment of the first request from the PNRR, which brings Romania 2.6 billion euros, for the revitalization of the economy

The European Commission has authorized the payment of the first request from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which brings Romania 2.6 billion euros for the revitalization of the economy, informs the Ministry of Investments and European Projects.

According to the quoted source, the European Commission approved on October 20 the decision regarding the authorization of the payment of the first payment installment of the non-refundable support and the first payment installment of the support in the form of a loan for Romania. Following this decision, the amount received by our country will be 2.6 billion euros, taking into account the pre-financing amounts already received by Romania.

“It is a moment that confirms the consolidated effort at the government level, which took shape in the fulfillment of the targets and milestones assumed by Romania for the last quarter of last year and translated into reforms of major interest for our country. Realistically speaking, it is only the beginning of a long road ahead of us, but which, if we carry out the key aspects of the Plan, will mean boosting the economy and generating a solid multiplier effect for investments in highways, rail infrastructure, schools, hospital infrastructure and everything that means strengthening the Romanian economy,” Minister Marcel Boloş said.

The decision foresees the approval of the first installment of the non-refundable support, in the amount of 2.037 million euros. In accordance with the Financing Agreement concluded between the Commission and Romania pursuant to Article 23(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the amount of 264.829 million euros is used for the liquidation of the pre-financing of the financial contribution, and the amount of 1.772 billion euros is granted to Romania by paying this amount into the bank account indicated in the Financing Agreement, MIPE states.

Also, the decision foresees the approval of the first tranche of support in the form of a loan, in the amount of 907.669 million euros. The amount of 117.997 million euros is used to liquidate the pre-financing of the loan, and the amount of 789.672 million euros is granted to Romania by paying this amount to the bank account indicated in the Loan Agreement.

Thus, the payment for the first payment request of approximately 3 billion euros, of which 2.03 billion euros, will take place in the following days, representing non-reimbursable financial support and 0.90 billion euros support in the form of a loan, will support the investments and reforms assumed by Romania, emphasize the representatives of the ministry.

The EC provided the competent committee of the European Parliament with an overview of its preliminary findings on the satisfactory achievement of relevant milestones and targets. Later, the Economic and Financial Committee agreed with the preliminary positive assessment of the Commission and was of the opinion that Romania satisfactorily reached all milestones and targets related to the payment request. In its assessment, the Commission took into account the opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee.

The first payment request, sent on May 31, 2022, included the 21 targets and benchmarks related to the IV quarter of 2021. With the submission of the payment request, all supporting documents regarding the satisfactory fulfillment of the targets and milestones were sent to the Commission, this being a mandatory condition. In total, 180 supporting documents related to the included benchmarks/targets were uploaded to the Commission’s electronic system.

On September 15, the Commission’s assessment of the fulfillment of the 21 targets and milestones related to the first payment request within the PNRR was approved and sent to the Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN), which subsequently approved it.

At that time, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, conveyed that the positive opinion comes as a result of “good and rapid progress in implementing the first set of reforms and investments within the plan”.

The next payment request for the settlement of the funds allocated to Romania through the PNRR will have a total value of 3.2 billion euros, of which 2.1 million euros is non-refundable financial support and 1.09 million euros is support in the form of a loan and aims to meet 51 milestones /targets related to quarter I 2022 and quarter II 2022.

Romania benefits from an allocation of 29.18 billion euros for the implementation of the PNRR, of which grants worth approximately 14.24 billion euros and loans worth 14.94 billion euros. For the implementation of the PNRR, Romania has already received two pre-financing tranches with a cumulative value of approximately 3.79 billion euros, in December 2021 and in January 2022.