​Today we import 70% of construction materials, and if we become competitive over time, we can cut to half of what we import today, Economy Minister Radu Oprea said on Friday about a 150 million euro state aid scheme prepared in construction . .

We remind you that Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku announced on Wednesday that the government is preparing a state aid scheme for the construction materials industry, the budget allocated for this year is a maximum of 150 million euros.

On Friday, in the Victoria Palace, the Minister of Economy, Radu Opria, together with the Prime Minister, Marcel Čolaku, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Marian Neatsou, discussed with the representatives of the construction employers the project of the state aid scheme, which the government is developing, for 2 hours. is being prepared

• “Any capacity in Romania creates jobs. More and better production means lower prices. A plasterboard factory costs at least 50 million euros for a modern technological process. The tile factory reaches 100 million euros.
• At the same time, there are other building materials that have a lower cost. We are talking to industry to gain market share in Romania, and we are targeting the recovery of Ukraine to be ready for that moment.” said Economy Minister Radu Oprea on Friday.

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Christian Erbasu: For such factories, the sums are not small. We must have predictability

Cristian Romeo Erbasu, vice-president of the Construction Societies Trust, stressed that good intentions could fail if the technical details of such a state aid scheme were not carefully discussed.

• “Obviously, we want more speed in execution, because imported materials are very difficult to get, the world crisis of building materials, they have to be of good quality and cheaper.
• I have already set some numbers. For such factories, the sums are not small. It is good that such factories will have jobs and skilled workers, with good wages, because there is a possibility of very good profitability, but we must have predictability in the medium-term perspective of 5-7 years, but also in the long-term perspective – 10-15 years, because such a plant with large capacities requires a minimum of 10-15 years of depreciation, which we approached and agreed to.” – said Christian to Airbus.

Erbasu: Canceling or reducing tax benefits at this time would be extremely harmful to the market

The representative of construction employers was also asked about the discussions and recommendations of international institutions regarding the reduction of fiscal benefits in Romania.

• “The industry is very concerned about this aspect because we had a 10-year plan between 2019 and 2028. On the other hand, there are certain obligations of the Romanian state.
• In the PNRR, we have assumed that from 2025 these capacities will gradually decrease until 2028.
• We agreed, and so we felt from the Government’s side that the liquidation or downsizing of facilities at this time would be extremely detrimental to the market and the investment environment, and for the next year and a half we hope that no action will be taken on these facilities. actions, after through the PNRR, gradually there are another 4 years, somewhere by 25% every year, to reduce these objects. Romeo stated to Airbus.