PSD's Dragnea announces state aid scheme talks as of this week with Romanian, foreign companies

Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea announced on Monday that the ruling coalition will start this week talks with foreign and Romanian companies on the measures envisaged by the government as regards state aid schemes.

"At the meeting of the party's National Standing Bureau we discussed some important subjects. Mrs. Prime Minister gave a briefing on the state aid scheme. Meetings will start this week - and the dedicated time span will not be uselessly stretched out - with foreign and Romanian companies to present the state aid scheme tailored for companies with investments of 10-plus million euro, another scheme for companies that invest up to five million euro; they will be required to invest in counties with an unemployment rate higher than 5 pct. There's a state aid scheme for the filmmaking industry and innovation, a state aid scheme for kindergartens and company housing, one for senior residential building, where pensioners should be offered fine accommodation conditions," Dragnea said.

The leadership of the ruling Social Democratic Party also discussed the draft public procurement ordinance.

"The ordinance blueprint is the result of consultations with - I think - almost all interested institutions, associations, the business milieu, local authorities, experts, so that the goals of clarifying, simplifying and cutting procurement periods be achieved. (...) Romania cannot hope for serious further development if we have to wait three, four or even seven years for a challenge procedure to be settled. Next week at the latest the government is expected to adopt this ordinance that is part of a larger package intended to stimulate investments in Romania and public procurement in the first place, in order to unlock procurement procedures with local and central authorities," Dragnea said.