Minister Teodorovici: Romania to close the current financial exercise with 80 pct EU funds absorption rate

Minister of European Funds, Eugen Teodorovici, on Wednesday announced in Bucharest that Romania will absorb at least 80 per cent of the total funds earmarked by the EU for the period 2007-2017 by the end of next year.

'With our invoices submitted to the European Commission totaling approximately 3.5 billion euros this year we will reach at least the level last year. This means that we will be able to avoid the risk of losing funds like in 2013. (...) We will go past the 50 per cent recorded last year and the next year we will be able to close the current financial framework with at least 80 per cent absorption rate for the 2007-2013 programming period, representing 19.3 billion euros,' said Teodorovici, at a meeting held at the Victoria Palace, occasioned by the launch of new EU-sponsored projects and attended including by Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

On the same occasion, the Minister of European Funds announced that Romania will be among the first states to launch fund applications for the next financial framework in the very first year of the exercise.

'We are going to launch our first project funding applications as early as in October and November this year,' said Teodorovici. AGERPRES