Lack of professionalism and of accountability in the central and local public administration has slowed down the absorption of EU funds. This is the conclusion reached yesterday by participants at the conference “What will Romania’s infrastructure look like in 2013 – the last year of accessing EU money?” organised by Ziarul Financiar in partnership with Drees & Sommer. They said the main enemy of Romanian infrastructure has been the connivance between the state and private companies, causing deliveries to be delayed.
Anca Boagiu, Transportation And Infrastructure Minister, has again accused former ministers of tolerating this situation, but it remains to be seen whether the promises of the current minister will be fulfilled. Boagiu said that by the end of this year the Transport Ministry targets a 20% absorption rate, i.e. 500 million euros (calculated for the entire amount allocated for 2007-2011 i.e.). The 500 million euros that Boagiu announces for 2011 account for just 11% of the EU funds allocated for infrastructure that Romania has available between 2007 and 2013.Boagiu also said around 2.6 billion euros in EU funds would be absorbed by the Transport Ministry until the end of 2012.