Romanian PM: New public-private partnership law ready next week

Romania’s Government will pass the new regulation on public-private partnership contracts through an emergency ordinance on Wednesday or next week at the latest, prime minister Mihai Tudose told local mayors yesterday. He also promised the local officials that a new set of laws for public purchases would be sent to the Parliament to speed up their approval. Mayors in Romania have been asking the Government to change the public purchase law and to finalize the law on public-private partnerships. Both laws are necessary to unlock local investment projects, according to the mayors. “The provisions of the new law on public procurement actually impede acquisitions instead of stimulating them,” said Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea. “In neighboring countries, a public purchase shouldn’t take longer than 2-3 months, while [in Romania e.n.] we are talking years,” she added. She also asked the PM to accelerate the public-private partnership law as many investments depend on it. editor@romania-insider.com