NRRP: EUR 1.9 billion enters Romania’s accounts on Thursday as pre-financing of the loan

bani, POCU, Ministerul Investiţiilor şi Proiectelor Europene Sursa: Facebook/ Ministerul Investiţiilor şi Proiectelor Europene

The European Commission will transfer €1.9 billion to Romania on Thursday, the amount of pre-financing from the loan component of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), the Ministry of European Investment and Projects announced in a press release, saying that it is receiving the money because “the targets and milestones for the fourth quarter of 2021 have been reached”, although pre-financing is not conditional on reaching the milestones.

Therefore, once the Loan Agreement (Recovery and Resilience Mechanism) between the European Commission and Romania enters into force, €1,942,479,890 will be transferred, representing 13% of the total loan amount.

This amount is in addition to the first pre-financing installment, on the grant component, disbursed by the European Commission on 2 December 2021, amounting to EUR 1.85 billion.

Thus, to date, a total amount of €3.79 billion has been granted to Romania since the approval and start of the implementation of the NRDP on 3 November 2021.

The institution also states that the MIPE will submit the first payment request to the European Commission in the first part of 2022, based on the fulfillment of the 24 targets and milestones related to the first quarter of 2022 (out of a total of 507 committed for the whole plan).

However, the EIM does not mention the payment claim for the fulfillment of the milestones for the fourth quarter of 2021.

According to the Council Implementing Decision of 3 November 2021, the loan amounts will be disbursed in 10 tranches, based on Romania’s fulfillment of the milestones and targets under the reforms and investments associated with the loan.

Responsibility for meeting the milestones and targets set out in the NRRP and underlying the drawdown of tranches under the loan lies with the reform and investment coordinators, i.e. the ministries (entities) responsible for the implementation of the reforms and/or reform and/or investment related components, as well as the ministries that have under their subordination/coordination/sub-authority entities responsible for the implementation of the reform and/or investment related components.

Pre-financing will be deducted as a percentage of the amount of the subsequent tranches to be released from the loan until the loan is fully cleared, but Romania may request acceleration of the pre-financing clearance by deducting larger amounts from the subsequent tranche(s).

The amounts drawn from the loan, including the pre-financing of the loan disbursed by the European Commission, and transferred to the foreign currency account opened in the name of the Ministry of Finance with the National Bank of Romania shall be used to the extent necessary to finance the State budget deficit and to refinance the government’s public debt, as well as to finance the reforms and investments foreseen in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The implementation of the provisions of the Loan Agreement will be carried out by the Ministry of Finance, as a borrower, and the Ministry of Investment and European Projects, as national coordinator of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the loan component of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan will finance reforms and investments that contribute to the economic and social recovery and long-term development of the country.

The Ministry of European Investment and Projects will submit the first disbursement request to the European Commission in the first part of 2022, based on the fulfillment of the 24 targets and milestones related to the first quarter of 2022 (out of a total of 507 committed for the whole plan).

The amount related to the implementation of Romania’s Recovery and Resilience Plan is €29,181,842,750. Romania has requested €14,239,689,750 in grant financial support and €14,942,153,000 billion in loans under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. Together, these represent 13.09% of 2019 GDP. The plan contains 171 measures (64 reforms and 107 investments), structured around six pillars and fifteen components.

The plan addresses a significant part of the long-standing structural challenges that remained unresolved, as identified in the relevant specific recommendations addressed to Romania by the Council in 2019 and 2020. The main objectives of the plan are to achieve the green transition and the digital transition while strengthening healthcare, education, social cohesion, and inclusion.

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