The Ministry of the Environment reported losses of over 450 million euros at Apele Române, due to poor management and delays in infrastructure projects.

The Ministry of Environment has published the results of an audit highlighting significant losses of European funds at the National Administration "Apele Române", estimating that over 450 million euros have been lost due to mismanagement. Minister Diana Buzoianu emphasized that these funds could have been used for the construction of dams and levees, but were blocked due to a lack of managerial capacity. From an initial allocation of 557.8 million euros for 7 projects, Apele Române lost over 80% of the funds, and a major project for modernizing flood defense infrastructure was reduced by 90%.

The audit revealed delays in procurement and poor coordination, and the Ministry of Environment proposed reorganizing the management structures of PNRR projects, dissolving the central department and redistributing personnel to the field. Measures were also requested to recover unjustly collected amounts and a mechanism for monitoring investments.