The European Commission has approved the reform and investment package proposed by Romania through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The plan will be implemented until 2026. The entire package is valued at €29.2 billion, approximately equally divided between non-reimbursable grants and loans. The funds will be transferred to the beneficiary country in 9 tranches based on the progress made in the committed reforms in priority areas and the indicators achieved related to the reform investments.

The PNRR is based on six main pillars:

1. Transition to a green economy
2. Digital transformation
3. Intelligent, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth
4. Social and territorial cohesion
5. Health and institutional resilience
6. Children, youth, education, and skills

41% of the allocation represents investments and reforms aimed at addressing climate change across each of the aforementioned pillars, namely:

• €3.9 billion for modernizing railway infrastructure using zero-emission technologies
• €1.9 billion for green urban infrastructure
• €855 million for transitioning to renewable energy production
• €2.7 billion for energy efficiency in buildings
• €1.1 billion for biodiversity protection

We have broken down the program and its pillars based on the addressability of the programs. In this material, we will focus on the over €6 billion for investments in building and infrastructure funds. These investments can benefit from programs aimed at energy efficiency, transitioning to renewable energy production, re-technology, and green urban infrastructure.

Financial Instruments for the Private Sector are divided as follows:

Portfolio Guarantee for Climate Action
Also within the financial instruments will be the Portfolio Guarantee for Climate Action, for which a budget of €200 million from the PNRR is foreseen. The beneficiaries will be SMEs and large companies with a maximum of 500 employees, who will be able to obtain loans with 80% guarantees for working capital, lines of credit, investment loans, and leasing. The investments will target climate action, such as energy efficiency improvement systems.

The beneficiaries of these guarantees will be small and medium-sized enterprises and large companies with a maximum of 500 employees.

Recovery Venture Capital Fund
The fund will have a total budget of €400 million for venture capital investments and will be implemented with the support of the European Investment Fund (EIF). These funds will be distributed to 100 fund managers, who will allocate investments to Romanian companies.

Depending on the size of the companies, the venture capital investments granted by the investment funds to be created will be as follows:

• €50,000-€200,000 for startups
• €200,000-€3,000,000 for early-stage growth companies
• €3,000,000-€5,000,000 for advanced-stage growth enterprises
• Over €5,000,000 for midcaps
• €5,000,000-€20,000,000 for renewable energy or biomass projects

Investment funds will acquire social shares/equity in the financed companies, and the income from the sale of these shares will return to the fund for new investments.

Digitalization of SMEs - Minimum Aid
A budget of €315 million will be used for the adoption of digital technologies (the minimum project value is €30,000, and the maximum value is €100,000). The funds will be used for investments such as e-commerce, electronic economic activities, network economic processes, digital innovation hubs, living labs, web entrepreneurs, and ICT startups, B2B.

Re-technology in Industry
A budget of €100 million will be allocated to stimulate energy efficiency in industry for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies in the industrial production sector. The main financeable investments will include:

• Replacement of equipment at the level of economic operators, re-technology, and modernization of production systems, measuring and optimizing the energy consumption of operators.
• Acquisition of digital platforms for centralizing consumption data/reducing consumption/monitoring indicators for each individual piece of equipment at the level of the operators/activity branch/digitalization and remote data transfer. Ensuring heating and cooling within economic operators through alternative systems for producing thermal agents and electricity, including through solar panels installed on roofs or other efficiency measures proposed by the energy auditor.
• Training specialists and workers in construction by developing training courses on energy efficiency in buildings.

The competencies and capacity of professionals and the workforce in the construction sector, which is currently insufficient to achieve the ambitious energy renovations required, will be targeted. The training programs will consist of short courses within lifelong learning programs to improve the skills of professionals and the workforce occupying green jobs in the context of energy renovations of buildings and are to be offered in various evenly distributed regions across Romania through training centers, universities, and relevant institutions.

The investment objective is to develop 10 certification schemes in the field of energy performance of buildings for specialists and qualifications for construction workers, covering a total of at least 8,000 people.

Investments in Urban Mobility
The investment will modernize transport infrastructure, ensuring environmental sustainability through new zero-emission public transport vehicles, building an additional 13,200 charging stations for electric vehicles, and 1,091 km of bike paths at the local/metropolitan level. The investments will also consist of intelligent transport systems and other ICT infrastructures to enhance road safety, reduce travel time, and alleviate traffic congestion.

Investments will equally rely on mandatory alignment with the sustainable urban mobility plan/integrated sustainable development plan/approved or in-progress general urban planning, ensuring mobility service coverage in the functional and peri-urban areas, prioritizing and promoting public transport in local traffic through the planning of preferential lanes and bus lanes on the most frequented/congested roads.

Investments in Multifamily Residential Buildings for a Resilient and Green Transition
Funding covers both renovation to ensure energy efficiency and seismic strengthening of residential buildings and will be dedicated to areas with the highest seismic risk. In the case of major renovations of buildings with more than 10 parking spaces, the cabling infrastructure for each parking space will ensure the possibility of installing charging points for electric vehicles and one charging point for every five parking spaces.

The Ministry of Development, Public Works, and Administration will be responsible for publishing calls for proposals for local public authorities, while local authorities will be responsible for awarding contracts.

Public Buildings and Public Utility Services
Investments in the moderate rehabilitation of public buildings aim to improve the delivery of local public services. The investment funds moderate renovation of public buildings at the local level. This targets only public buildings in cities and communes intended for providing public services to citizens (e.g., town hall buildings, social service buildings).

The investment will involve the renovation of a surface area of 1,306,818 square meters in eligible public buildings. It is expected that the renovation will lead to a 30% reduction in the need for primary energy, as demonstrated by energy performance certificates.

Integrated Community Centers
The sub-investment will consist of the construction/renovation of 200 integrated community centers (integrated community centers are part of the ensemble of community health programs managed by the Ministry of Health).

Investments in University Infrastructure (Dormitories, Cafeterias, Recreation Areas)
The objective of this investment is to build/modernize three types of infrastructure in university campuses according to safety and quality standards to ensure the social/inclusive dimension of higher education.

The investment will finance:

• The construction of 5,020 and expansion/modernization of 14,500 recreation and reading spaces in university campuses, to be completed by March 31, 2024.
• The construction of 3,500 and expansion/modernization of 3,125 cafeterias in university campuses, to be completed by June 30, 2024.
• The construction of 4,600 and expansion/modernization of 14,530 dormitories in university campuses, dedicated to students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.

In terms of renovations, contracts will include a minimum requirement for reducing energy consumption for heating by at least 50%.

Development of the Green Schools Network and Purchase of Green Buses
The objective of this investment is to ensure the sustainability of pre-university educational units through the transition to green schools.

To ensure the transition to a sustainable education system, the Ministry of Education will initiate the development of a network of sustainable, environmentally friendly schools. 300,000 m² of the surface area of educational units will benefit from structural changes to ensure sustainability (thermal insulation, solar panels, green space planning, selective waste collection), and 46,400 m² of new green pre-university educational units will be constructed.

For renovations, contracts will include a minimum requirement for reducing energy consumption for heating by at least 50% compared to the annual energy consumption for heating before the building's renovation.

Outpatient Medical Infrastructure
The investment will consist of rehabilitating, modernizing, and expanding (including through the construction of new buildings) at least 30 outpatient healthcare units. At least 20 outpatient healthcare units will be located in less developed regions or localities (defined as those regions/localities where GDP per capita is <75% of the EU-27 average).

The sub-investment consists of partially funding the construction of 25 new hospitals or healthcare units. Of the 25 new hospitals or healthcare units, 19 buildings will comply with the requirement for nearly zero energy buildings, according to national guidelines, and 6 will meet the objective of achieving a primary energy demand at least 20% lower than the requirement for nearly zero energy buildings.