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The Romanian government passed on Wednesday a bill approving a framework loan agreement between Romania and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) in the amount of 270 million euros, of which 216 million euros are loans, intended for the rehabilitation of priority historical heritage and cultural institutions.
According the Ministry of Culture, this is "the last procedural step taken in order for priority historical heritage to be rehabilitated on CEB funds."
The two components provided for by the framework agreement aim at:
* Rehabilitation of historical monuments - in-depth restoration of the following buildings and institutions:
- The National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest (which will become the second largest consolidated and restored historical monument in Romania, of a total area of 32,000 square metres);
- The Romanian National Theatre and Opera House of Cluj-Napoca;
- Villa Florica at Stefanessti, Arges County, a property of the Bratianu National Museum since 2020;
- The Varnav Liteanu Mansion at Liteni - Suceava County;
- Villa Ion I.C. Bratianu in Bucharest, headquarters of the Special Collection Service of the National Library of Romania;
- The National Museum of the December 1989 Anti-Communist Revolution of Timisoara.
* Rehabilitation and construction of cultural buildings:
- Rehabilitation of the Marin Sorescu National Theatre House of Craiova;
- Construction of a new concert hall in Iasi intended for the Romanian National Opera in Iasi.
The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Culture through its the Project Management Unit (AICI). The implementation period is about 7 years, and the project becomes operational after the loan is ratified by law this year.
The initialling of the framework loan agreement will ensure, regardless of political or governmental fluctuations, all the money necessary to achieve the eight investment objectives in a critical context for the state of historical monuments in Romania and for the cultural infrastructure in general as a result of a systemic lack of funding or underfunding of this branch of culture, according to the Ministry of Culture, told Agerpres.
