Romanian minister for European projects notifies EPPO of misuse of EU funds in school bus project

Romania’s European projects and investments minister, Dragoș Pîslaru, announced that he will notify the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) regarding the purchase of electric minibuses for students with EU funds.

The minister said that “multiple dysfunctions” were noted in how the EU funds were used in the project.

Aside from notifying the EPPO, the minister said he will also send the findings to the Department for Anti-Fraud Fight and the Competition Council.

“I have decided to notify the European Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the purchase of electric minibuses for students. I will also arrange for the results of the verification carried out by the Control Body of the Minister of Investments and European Projects to be sent to the Department for Anti-Fraud Fight and the Competition Council. I took these measures following the discovery of multiple dysfunctions that raise questions regarding how the European funds were used,” Pîslaru wrote on Monday on his Facebook page.

The minister said that the project called “ Electric Minibuses for Students” was designed to support local communities and to provide children in rural areas with safe, modern, and environmentally friendly transportation.

“Unfortunately, the analysis of the documentation submitted by county councils shows that the implementation was uneven and lacked centralized coordination. Instead of an integrated system, with centralized procurement and uniform standards, each county carried out separate procedures, establishing their own specifications, estimated values, and delivery conditions,” Pîslaru explained.

In total, there were 74 individual procurements carried out by authorities from 40 counties. The purchases of the buses were marked by significant price differences between similar minibuses and a lack of clear justification. In several instances, the same type of electric minibus (16+1 seats) was purchased by local authorities in three different counties at prices between EUR 99,000 and EUR 263,000.

Moreover, according to the minister, equipment was received outside delivery terms, and price differences sometimes varied up to three times more than the lowest price.

Additionally, there are differences between the lists of localities benefiting from electric minibuses according to the funding request and the localities that actually received minibuses according to the delivery/receipt minutes.

“European funds are public money, and their correct and transparent use depends on the modernization of Romania itself. When we talk about public money, we cannot allow negligence, improvisation, or lack of rigor, and I will never tolerate such situations,” the minister stated.