Bucharest mayor says urban plans he blocked in court were billion-euro corruption scheme

The district urban plans (PUZ) endorsed by district mayors were corruption schemes generating billions of euros, Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan argued. He said that four of the six such district urban plans (PUZs) were definitively scrapped in court, and the other two will be suspended again starting next Monday.

"The PUZs from districts 3, 4, 5, 6 brought [to those involved in the fraudulent schemes] undue benefits of several hundred million euros, and those from districts 1 and 2, undue benefits of billions of euros – because they are the wealthiest northern areas of Bucharest," declared Nicusor Dan.

Dan also stated that it is "the real estate mafia, in complicity with local and central politicians, who for their own private interest, for benefits worth billions of euros, put at risk the public interest of living comfortably in this city," News.ro reported.

He illustrated his statements with the case of the Metalurgiei neighborhood in the southern part of the city, which, under the general urban plan (PUG, handled by the Bucharest City Hall as opposed to PUZs handled by the district City Halls), was supposed to be a green area. At this moment, the neighborhood has no proper access infrastructure, and the residential properties built on small plots of land sold by individual owners to the real estate developers can hardly be reached by the residents.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / Malina Norocea)