The EU's new investment
Romania is dealing well with the absorption of European funds according to the director of a division of the Ministry of Finances and Economy Razvan Cotovelea.
He said in a statement that Romania is the second highest applicant in the EU for Phare funds and that 94-96% of payments have gone ahead so far.
Co-ordinator of EU projects Professor Andrei Szuder said these funds are “designated to develop the infrastructure and the competitiveness of Romanian regions and companies.”
Some sources suggest that Romania will be given more than 19 billion euros by the EU between now and 2013 in order for them to develop and catch up with other EU countries.
But despite the apparent availability of these funds, professionals from a variety of different sectors appear to be having trouble accessing them.
Councillor at the Ministry of Health Cristina Vladu said: “People are not trained to apply for the funding."
The problems experienced in these areas have led Professor Szuder to take matters into his own hands: "I have more than 500 students learning about how to write proposals. I hope from 500 some of them will write some good competitive proposals."
Click on the links below to hear more about how funding problems are affecting Romanian society:
