PNRR: nurseries will be completed on time, but the Hospital in Constanța will not

The interim Minister of Development, Cseke Attila, stated on Monday, during a visit to Alba County, that Romania is not at risk of missing the targets set under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) with regard to the construction of nurseries.

"There are no such issues on the horizon, because our milestone for nurseries is 80 nurseries under the grant — that is, non-reimbursable — and 30 nurseries under reimbursable financing. From what we can see today, these milestones will be met," the minister said.

He also stated that the government programme for building nurseries would continue after the completion of the PNRR.

Constanța County Emergency Hospital — the only investment that will not be completed on time

The situation is different when it comes to healthcare investments. According to Cseke Attila, of the eight hospitals funded through the PNRR, only one — Constanța County Emergency Hospital — will not be completed before the programme's deadline.

"We currently have eight hospitals funded through the PNRR, two of which are practically finished, whilst the remaining six are still under construction. For one of them — the investment at Constanța County Emergency Hospital — the Government has already decided to continue funding through the Operational Programme for Health until February or March of next year, as it qualifies under that scheme. It is a major investment, worth over 1,000,000,000 RON," the minister explained.

Work on the Constanța hospital will therefore continue using structural European funds, with completion estimated for spring of next year.

Five hospitals to receive additional funding from the state budget

For the other five hospitals still under construction, the Government has intervened both by updating the technical and economic indicators and by providing supplementary funding from the state budget.

"The other five, as you know, have encountered various problems over time. In the past two months, we identified the need to issue Government decisions approving — or re-approving, as the case may be — the relevant indicators, and additional state budget funding for these hospital investments was also required," Cseke Attila noted.

The minister added that the necessary funds are available within the Ministry of Health's budget and that payments to contractors have been brought up to date: "This is the first time contractors have been paid on schedule, and we expect to be able to close these five hospitals by the end of August, in addition to the other two already at the handover stage, with Constanța set to be completed in the spring of next year."

Over 80 nurseries built through the "Sfânta Ana" programme

The minister's statements came two days after the inauguration of a new nursery in Oradea, alongside interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. It is the 82nd nursery built under the national "Sfânta Ana" Programme, run by the Ministry of Development.

According to the authorities, the programme has so far created nearly 5,000 nursery places nationwide and will continue beyond the end of PNRR funding.