Finance Minister Marcel Bolosh said on Monday that in the near future it is difficult to believe that all 26 hospitals in the PNRR will be implemented, and that the most correct thing for Romania is to analyze such situations with pragmatism, so as not to lose money from non-implementation, News.ro reports.

Bolosh also said that “maybe it’s better to say that now they don’t have time to build these hospitals because they don’t have the physical time, the projects aren’t ready yet, and we can transfer that money elsewhere.”

The Minister of Finance stated on Prima TV whether the money from the PNRR was lost for hospitals,

“If we talk about the real time frame for the implementation of these projects, that is, can we complete 26 hospitals by August 31, 2026? We are still in 2023. In the near future, it is hard to believe that all 26 hospitals will be realized. Who is to blame now is another topic. We have to be very pragmatic here if we discuss the PNRR,” the minister said, noting that “we can lose money for non-compliance, and the second sanction is that if you don’t meet the milestone, you have an additional sanction.”

Marcel Bolos showed that “the best thing for Romania is to pragmatically analyze such situations in order not to lose money due to non-performance”.

“It will depend a lot on the reform coordinators. Now is a period when we do not take into account that we have not implemented these projects, but a long deadline is coming. (..) If they are not fulfilled by this deadline, it will not be good for those reform coordinators.

(..) In 2026, whoever will be the minister will have to answer why he did not implement the projects and we are losing money, it will not be easy for him to explain and blame the bureaucracy or the fact that the beneficiaries did not implement the contractual financing. It will certainly be very difficult for them to explain why Romania lost money, why Romania is not implementing highways or educational projects or other priority areas for the country,” he added.

Bolosh also said that “maybe it’s better to say that now they don’t have time to build these hospitals because they don’t have the physical time, the projects aren’t ready yet, and we can transfer that money elsewhere.”

The Minister of Finance said that there are two programs for hospitals, one from the PNRR, which has a deadline of August 31, 2026, and the Operational Health Program, where there is 3 billion euros, which also means 26 hospitals, and which must be implemented in December 2029.

Health care loses €740m of non-reimbursable EU money after PNRR changes. These 740 million euros should have been earmarked for the construction of hospitals or hospital buildings. These projects will be implemented, Minister Alexandru Rafila explained at a press conference on Monday, but not with non-returnable European money, but with money borrowed from the European Investment Bank.

Money from PNRR for healthcare in Romania – seed funding:

• 2.45 billion in investments and reforms
• 400 million for digitization
• 740 million was cut from investments, money that will be borrowed from the EIB so that projects can go ahead

Initially, 27 hospitals in Romania would receive grants from the PNRR for headquarters, building blocks or new pavilions. Now the list has been reduced to 21 hospitals.