Bucharest mayor says City Hall is “unofficially bankrupt”

The Bucharest City Hall is “unpronounced bankrupt,” mayor Gabriela Firea said, quoted by Mediafax. Ahead of an executive committee meeting of the Social Democrat Party (PSD), the mayor said she was more interested in the budget of the City Hall than in organizing a party congress.

“I am much more concerned at this point with the fact that both the Bucharest City Hall and the district ones have a much lower budget than the expected one. I am sorry that some of my fellow mayors let me battle you know who by myself. Some probably rejoiced when the budget of the Bucharest City Hall was cut, but now we are all undeclared bankrupt, when you cannot ensure functioning, the usual activity,” Firea said, quoted by Mediafax.

She said the municipality needs RON 1 billion (EUR 210 million) to keep running, Adevarul reported.

The Bucharest mayor also said she would discuss the situation with prime minister Viorica Dăncilă and finance minister Eugen Teodorovici.

The PSD met on June 7 to decide on another deputy PM proposal after president Klaus Iohannis rejected Titus Corlăţean for the job.

On Monday, June 10, Firea said that all cities and municipalities in the country find themselves in a difficult situation and blamed former PSD leader Liviu Dragnea on the situation.

“The Government of Romania, the one that was led by the former party president, is to blame. Not only for the situation of the Bucharest City Hall but also for the situation of the districts because they gave them a lot of money but only on paper, the money never went in. I told this to my colleagues as well, if they had stood by me and did not leave me by myself in front of the former PSD president, probably the entire situation would have improved,” Firea said, quoted by News.ro.

The mayor also said the City Hall requested a loan from the state Treasury, which she hoped would be approved on June 12 so as to “pay a gas bill.”