The total value of payment applications submitted to the European Commission under the Large Infrastructure Operational Program (LIOP) was 4.8 billion euros at the end of last year (52% of EU funds allocated to LIOP, amounting to 9 .1 billion euros), and payment applications of 1.5 billion euros (increasing by 47% compared to the amount in 2020) were sent to the European Commission in 2021 alone.
These figures were presented by Cristian Roman, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Investment and European Projects and LIOP Coordinator, at the meeting of the Monitoring Committee for the Large Infrastructure Operational Program 2014-2020, aimed at analyzing the results of the program and measures needed to accelerate project implementation.
"The progress made by the Large Infrastructure Operational Program is all the more relevant as this period was marked by the effects of the pandemic, felt on all levels, but also from this perspective, LIOP contributed significantly through concrete measures to protect the population and ease the impact of public health crisis on the Romanian economy. The aim of the LIOP team is to attract another 1.8 billion euros this year, a value 20% higher than last year", said Cristian Roman, according to a release sent on Thursday to AGERPRES.
During the said Monitoring Committee's meeting and the 3 sectoral meetings - transport, environment and energy - that took place on January 25, 2022, a series of decisions were taken, including: the modification of the program to supplement the allocation by 216 million euros from REACT-EU, the approval of the Communication Strategy, respectively the appointment of a new member with the right to vote: the Moldova wants a Highway Civic Association, within the Sectoral Committee on Transport, Agerpres.ro informs.
The main conclusion of the meeting was the need to intensify the institutional dialogue to eliminate bottlenecks and accelerate the pace of program implementation in order to achieve the assumed goals and make investments, the release reads.