Since a lot has happened recently, very little has been said about investment funds financed from the state budget. Perhaps also because PNRR was the star investment of public money. However, Angel Saligna’s program is two years old after its approval in September. If you no longer remember what Angel Saligni is, I remind you once again that this is the program for which the former Prime Minister Florin Sitsu was the fire of the country in 2021 to approve it to ensure the presidency of the National Liberal party – which, by the way, also did not last long.

Meanwhile, some 2,208 contracts have been signed out of 4,690 funded by the government through the Ministry of Development. The total cost of these projects, excluding the financing of gas networks, is 51 billion lei, of which more than 24 billion contracts were signed by the end of September. Another 15 billion lei were allocated for gas networks, the expediency of which raises doubts. The fact that contracts are signed does not mean that work has begun on everything. For example, design contracts have been concluded for almost 1,000 objects.

The logic is that the MDLPA has approved the project proposals submitted by the mayors and county councils and will complete certain approvals, documents, etc. to be able to sign the financial contracts, giving them the right to start procurement. After that, calculations are made according to the invoices for the work performed. An interesting aspect related to the method of signing contracts. An analysis we recently conducted at the Expert Forum shows that there are discrepancies at the county level when comparing values ​​approved by ministerial order and those for which contracts were signed (see map below). In percentage terms, the counties of Iasi and Alba are the best, with contracts at around 70% of the approved value. Dolj, Arges, Suceava, Galati or Maramures are also located at about 60%. At the other extreme are the counties of Covasna, Brasov or Karash-Severin, where mayors and county councils have signed contracts for 25% of the total amount approved for the county. The worst is Harghita, only 17%. In fact, the UDMR seems to be coming out worst in this deal, which may be a sign that it no longer has the same leverage after leaving the government. In Bucharest, out of 24 contracts, only 2 were signed – one by the City Hall of Sector 3 and one in Sector 4. Sector 6 did not sign any of the 10 contracts approved by the minister’s order. It should also be noted that the City Hall of Sector 4 also received the largest contract ever financed by such funds, worth 750 million lei, which aims to consolidate Union Square. But it is still difficult to assess why these differences exist based on public data alone. The reasons can be many and they can relate to the quality of the projects, the stage of approval of the various documents, compliance with the procedures established by the financier, the availability of money and probably – and very importantly – the political influence of the beneficiaries.

Percentage of value of contracts signed by beneficiaries (mayors and district councils) compared to the value approved by ministerial order, per district (September 2023).

Regarding money, an important aspect to note is that programs of this type, such as Saligny, the National Local Development Program or investments funded by the National Investment Company, remain dependent on allocations from the Government’s Reserve Fund. Although smaller amounts were redistributed in 2023 than in other years (but the year did not end), the Ministry’s budget was supplemented with 15 million lei for PNDL 1, 160 million for PNDL 2, 100 million for Saligny and 200 million for the financing of the National Public Building Program or social significance. This type of financing may also be necessary for reasons related to price increases, but it also shows that the approval of projects was done, as in the case of PNDL, without the actual availability of money in the budget, but it was still done with political considerations.

At the political level, the distribution of funds and the signing of contracts seems quite balanced, especially if you look at PSD and PNL, which received the most funds. However, at the billing level, elected PSD seems to have fared a little better. As I said above, communities led by UDMR seem to have fallen behind in signing contracts and settlements. –

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