ACTUALITY: The new legislative proposals support the activity of companies

After a first quarter in which the local construction market seemed to be heading for stability, the available data for the first six months of this year show a sharp decrease of the indicator, the volume of works being on a downward trend both as gross and adjusted series by 6.8%, respectively 7% compared to the same period in 2012, taking into account as well the number of working days and the seasonality. Moreover, Romania reported, in June 2013, the largest decrease in the volume of works in the EU, compared to the previous month (-2.4%), according to Eurostat, the European statistics office. Despite the fact that the available data are not actually positive, there were also frequent changes in the top-management of ministries and institutions which should be stable partners of the construction companies. These had as a result the growth of instability and the lack of investor confidence in the structures and actions of the state. In this "equation", the eternal unknown value remains the financing, given that the solutions at hand such as European funds are facing further helplessness, masked by the "lack of experience", from the authorities. The news that banks could take over the role of the Ministry of Public Finance (MFP) in the absorption of EU funds in the next financial period (2014-2020), by removing the latter from the payment circuit is somewhat surprising and seems to be a very good one. The stated purpose of the representatives of the Ministry of European Funds and the ones of the Romanian Banks Association is to simplify the absorption procedure, the latter being requested several times by representatives of banks. Currently, the funding for the implementation of European projects enter in the account of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), after which they are sent to the Certifying and Paying Authority from the MFP, and taken from there by the managing authorities of each program through an account opened at the Treasury and then sent to beneficiaries in accounts at various commercial banks. According to the new proposal, the money would come directly from the Central Bank account in the commercial bank where beneficiaries have their own accounts.