Pîslaru announces that the Government is submitting the payment request number 5 of the PNRR

„As I was drawing attention some time ago, we are ready to submit the payment request number 5 on the PNRR”, declared Minister Dragoş Pîslaru after the Government meeting.

The Minister specified that the request includes 75 targets and milestones, of which 21 are related to reforms and 54 to investments.

„We have had information notes in the last five weeks that you have certainly been able to follow regarding the progress on this submission. Today I can tell you that we are ready with a number of 75 targets and milestones, of which 21 on reform, 54 on investments and that we will submit this payment request number 5 worth 2.84 billion euros, of which 1.65 billion on the grant side and 433 million on the loan side. The differences in amounts are important, you will see again with pre-financing and without pre-financing, given that we are approaching the end of the PNRR, my suggestion is to discuss net amounts. Given that we are approaching the end of the PNRR, my suggestion is to discuss net amounts. So we retain on the grant side, where it is most important, the non-reimbursable amounts, 1.65 billion. This payment request 5 is practically the penultimate one that we have”, said the minister.

The minister specified that, after the revision of the PNRR, the total amount allocated to Romania in the form of grants remained at 13.57 billion euros.

„In accordance with the decision of the Council of the European Union, after the final revision of the PNRR, you know that this document was published on August 7, which shows us the final form of the PNRR. I draw attention to the fact that our absolute priority since we came to power last year was not to lose anything from the grant allocation and the allocation still remained at 13.57 billion. I would like to mention that, from the perspective of absorption on the PNRR, before the 5th payment request, we were at a percentage of 66% of the amount on the grant side and, with the 5th payment request, we will reach 78% on the grant amount”, added Pîslaru.

Pîslaru also claimed that MIPE estimates that the new payment request will be a „clean” one.

“To be very clear, we estimate a clean payment request 5, exactly as happened with the largest request that was approved for Romania, payment request 4,” he stressed.

The minister compared the current situation with the one that existed at the time of taking office and stated that the absorption rate of the PNRR was then 47.19%.

„It is very important to look back a little. When this government was installed and I came as minister at the Ministry of Investments and European Projects, the PNRR was at a percentage of 47.19%, after having missed a good part of the payment request 3 and having also missed a relatively small component of the payment request 2. So 47% was the percentage of the PNRR after a period of four and a half years, 2021-2025. If you want and divide it by these four and a half years, it would have meant that, for the first four and a half years, the average per year was about 10.4% of the PNRR,” said Pîslaru.

Pîslaru said that, in the last year and two months, the percentage increased by about 31 points.

„In this one year and two months, under the Bolojan Government, led by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, we have added 31% to the PNRR. This means, in total, I repeat, the percentage of 78%, which we will reach after payment request number 5,” the minister declared.

After payment request number 5, Romania will have to submit only one more request within the PNRR.