Romania seeks new US loan to finance USD 3 bln military procurement

Romania plans to seek a new loan from the United States government to finance purchases of USD 3 billion of US military equipment, according to a government memorandum cited by Profit.ro. The document authorises the minister of defence to send a letter to Washington expressing Romania’s intention to begin consultations on a new financing agreement under the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) direct loans programme.

Romania has already secured USD 920 million through the mechanism, while the Ministry of National Defence currently has contracts worth about USD 3 billion with the US government.

The FMF Loans programme is designed to support allied and partner countries in modernising their armed forces by facilitating the acquisition of US defence equipment and services through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.

According to the Romanian government, the proposed loan would complement the European Union’s SAFE instrument, which made available to Romania nearly EUR 17 billion in financing. Although SAFE allows up to 35% of equipment linked to a capability to originate from outside the EU, this provision does not apply to procurements conducted directly with the US government through the FMS framework.

“As such, an FMF-type loan would represent for Romania a complementary instrument to the SAFE-type, with the role of ensuring, at low costs, the financial resources necessary for both the development and acceleration of endowment programmes according to the Romanian Army Endowment Plan 2026-2035,” the memorandum reportedly states.

The long-term procurement plan was approved by the Supreme Council of National Defence.

The additional financing would support the acceleration of military modernisation efforts as Romania seeks to strengthen its defence capabilities amid heightened security concerns on NATO’s eastern flank.

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