​Finance Minister Adrian Cachiu said on Friday that the government has adopted an emergency resolution to cut budget spendingone of the changes is that the procedures for the purchase of cars, furniture and office equipment that have been started will be stopped if no winners are announced.

• “On the procurement side, a provision has been introduced, which says that from the date of entry into force, the procedures will be terminated if the stage of notification of the result of the public procurement procedure has not been completed. In practice, it is not enough to just have an invitation to participate uploaded to SEAP.
• Those where the outcome of the procedure has been notified remain extended, while others are terminated.
• There are exceptions for purchases related to EU-funded projects, PNRR or projects that are the subject of a loan agreement with the World Bank.” the finance minister said on Friday.

The changes announced today by the finance minister come after HotNews.ro reported that hundreds of cars will be bought in newly launched tenders ahead of the much-hyped “Budget Savings Decree”, which is also set to ban the purchase of cars by state institutions and authorities. in the Ministries of Environment, Economy, Health Care and MApN.

Dozens of direct purchases have already been made in health insurance institutions, pension institutions, and the Ministry of Labor.

• Read: Budget savings, only on paper: hundreds of cars will be sold at auctions launched by the ministries a few days before the purchase ban

Kechiu, about debt to energy suppliers: There is money. The Ministry of Energy has 4.7 billion lei in its budget

Câciu says the emergency resolution passed today will create a new tool to pay outstanding bills for energy suppliers from the labor and energy ministries’ own budgets.

• “The mechanism of payment to suppliers of the Ministry of Energy is the same as before, only the source of funding has been added. In practice, we will have multiple sources of funding for this payment mechanism.
• The Department of Energy and Labor has money in the budget, and they can redirect the money they have in other appropriations to pay bills as a priority,” Cachiu said.

Caciu admitted that the Ministry of Energy requested an amount of 1.3 billion lei, but he was troubled by the observations of the ministry led by Virgil Popescu.

• “Yes, all these correspondences happen every month. The debt situation is known. In my view, there was no need to go through the appeal because the Government had come up with another tool to support prompt payment of these bills.
• Budget credits can be opened at any time after the publication of this order in the Official Gazette. There remains a mechanism to collect alimony from the Transitional Fund, which also has offshore taxes and added another financing tool,” he said.

When asked by journalists where exactly the 1.3 billion lei will come from, considering that most of the budget of the Ministry of Energy is aimed at investments, Cachiu said that the resources are available.

• “He has 4.7 billion lei at his disposal. Look, I spoke to the secretary of state (not from energy). I don’t think people are interested in that, the technical part that we discuss among ourselves as ministers. People are interested in one thing: bills paid to suppliers, and two: bills with low prices for citizens and the economy,” Cachiu said.

Kechiu: There is no need to interfere with taxation

Changes related to the accumulation of pensions with wages will be introduced by law, the minister noted.

As for other elements and opportunities for taxation, Cachiu said government revenues are starting to return to the projected norm.

“On the other hand, I believe that there is no need to interfere with taxation. These things will happen after digitalization takes place,” the minister said.

About 450 positions of personal advisors will be cut

Another change to the decree adopted today by the Government provides for a 50% reduction in the positions of personal advisers to civil servants.

“About 900 positions. So this number will be reduced to 450 posts, but it also depends on the number of vacant posts,” said the minister.

• Read details: What changes has the “Savings Ordinance” undergone: changes to the “freeze” of hiring and promotion for a doctoral degree