Csíkszereda/Miercurea Ciuc must hurry if it wants to receive its share of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) cash pile. The local authority has a tight deadline for preparing a plan for future developments and investments; otherwise, it will remain with only the memory of a missed opportunity.
Romania has requested EUR 14.3 billion in grants and EUR 15 billion in loans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF is the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU, the EU’s plan for emerging stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme will provide up to EUR 672.5 billion to support investments and reforms (per 2018 prices).
As we previously reported, county seats such as Csíkszereda/Miercurea Ciuc
and Marosvásárhely/Târgu-Mureș will
be given EUR 18 million if they have a sustainable plan.
At this point, the Marosvásárhely local authority has plans to open a unique photo museum in the city in Domokos House, an investment valued at more than EUR 10 million. Csíkszereda, however, is not yet prepared to take a bite from the cash pile because “at this point we don’t have any tangible plans,” the vice-mayor of the county seat, Béla Bors, told Hungarian news portal Székelyhon.
“For the ongoing projects, contracting or tendering is the next step, or we have already signed the investment contracts,” Bors added.
The funding opportunity is there, and the investment projects are numerous: The money can be used to upgrade 20 kilometers of road infrastructure in Szécseny or the road to Csíksomlyó/Șumuleu Ciuc or Csiba, but it can also go toward making apartment blocks more energy-efficient, Bors explained.
However, if the Csíkszereda local authority doesn’t take the necessary steps to elaborate on the plans or at least conduct a feasibility study before the end of the year, the money train will leave.
Title image: Pixabay
