Iași Reporter: Valeriu Iftime, controversial connections to an 80-million-leu business funded through the NRRP / He put his 70-year-old brother in the company one month before the deal

An investigation by Reporter de Iași reveals a scheme through which the company Elsaco Solutions collected more than 80 million lei in PNRR (RePowerEU) funds for installing solar panels and batteries at prices up to four times higher than on the open market.

Valeriu Iftime, president of the Botoșani County Council (CJ), sold his 40% stake in Elsaco Solutions to his brother for 200 lei, one month before registration closed for RePowerEU, the PNRR program that paid for solar panels and batteries for the homes of “vulnerable people.” From this program, Elsaco Solutions collected 80 million lei including VAT.

His brother, Dumitru Iftime, is 70 years old and has lived in Constanța for more than 30 years, while the company he joined with 200 lei has annual business of more than 100 million lei.

Elsaco Solutions collected 80.4 million lei, including VAT, from RePowerEU, money paid by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIPE) between February and July 2026. Of this amount, 51.3 million lei was for 852 homes belonging to vulnerable people, who received solar panels and a battery. Another 29.1 million lei was for 967 homes that already had solar panels and received only a battery.

The program operated with vouchers, meaning fixed amounts paid by the state for each home. For a vulnerable household, the voucher was 10,000 euros plus VAT, namely 60,217 lei, for solar panels and a battery. For a home that already had solar panels, the voucher was 5,000 euros plus VAT, namely 30,108 lei, for a battery.

The money did not reach the people, but the companies. The companies enrolled in the program in the fall of 2024, each with a list of up to 1,000 homes, and the beneficiaries say that afterward they could no longer change companies.