The PNL must repay the Permanent Electoral Authority over 14 million lei for Nicolae Ciucă’s election campaign / The High Court of Cassation and Justice definitively dismissed the appeal filed by the Liberals

The National Liberal Party has definitively lost its case against the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) regarding the reimbursement of certain expenses from Nicolae Ciucă’s presidential campaign, after the High Court of Cassation and Justice rejected the party’s appeal. The decision upholds the PNL’s obligation to return 14,117,378.04 lei to the state budget.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice rejected the appeal as unfounded and upheld the Bucharest Court of Appeal’s ruling of November 19, 2025. The decision is final. The litigation began in August 2025, when the PNL challenged the AEP’s act, and the party filed an appeal in January 2026. The ruling was postponed twice.

According to the AEP report published in the Official Gazette, the PNL received reimbursement of 17,650,605.51 lei in December 2024. A subsequent audit established that 14,109,587.59 lei came from state budget subsidies and could not be reimbursed again. An additional 7,790.45 lei was added to this amount, representing the difference resulting from the incorrect calculation of an invoice.

The initial reimbursement had been made on the basis of an ordinance adopted after the annulment of the 2024 presidential election. The legislative act provided for the rapid payment of expenses, followed by checks, as well as interest and penalties for amounts not paid on time. The AEP stated that no contraventional violations had been found.