Bucharest municipal companies fail to get their budgets endorsed

Bucharest’s General Council failed to approve on May 30 the budgets for the 19 municipal companies set up by mayor Gabriela Firea at the beginning of her mandate, which are subject to litigations in court. Only 26 members of the Council backed the proposed budget drafts, versus 27 votes needed, Hotnews.ro reported.

The 19 companies planned cumulated expenditures of over RON 1 billion (EUR 210 million) in 2019, under the planning rejected by the councilors. Their revenues come from the municipality’s budget. By the end of the year, the firms estimate that they will have about 6,500 employees, and the payroll alone would amount to about RON 330 million (EUR 69 mln), a third of their budget.

Last year, the Bucharest Court of Appeal invalidated the decisions to set up 22 municipal companies, motivating that they were adopted with the vote of insufficient councilors. A lawsuit is underway for the abolition of the companies.

Gabriela Firea has been trying to reorganize them and bring them into legality, but opposition representatives have announced they would not vote for the projects.

(Photo source: Facebook/Gabriela Firea)