Câciu accuses the government of making illegal purchases

PSD deputy Adrian Câciu claims that the purchase of utility vehicles made by the Prime Minister's Chancellery is illegal and is demanding the termination of the contract. The reaction comes after the head of the Chancellery, Mihai Jurca, announced that the operational leasing for 17 Dacia Dusters significantly reduced the institution's expenses. In a post published on Facebook, the PSD deputy stated that the purchase would violate the legislation on the use of public funds. "The entire purchase made by the Chancellery is illegal, as well as any settlement made by the Government on those utility vehicles. The Prime Minister's Chancellery should terminate the contract and return the cars. If it doesn't have cars, it should ask ANAF to find them for confiscations - the car park is full. If it wants cars, it should make a loan at RAPPS, but they should fall within the SGG fuel quota," Adrian Câciu wrote. The former Finance Minister argued that, according to the legal definition, the van is a vehicle intended for the transport of goods, not people, and that this would invalidate the contractual basis of the purchase. Căciu also criticized the operational costs of the contract: "Doesn't the rate on these Dusters seem like the same as on a Range Rover, one of those sports/luxury/premium ones?”

• Prime Minister's Chancellery: "Expenses were reduced by 90%”

The head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery, Mihai Jurca, rejected the accusations, claiming that the purchase was made in accordance with the legislation in force and that its purpose was to reduce operating costs. "Compared to 100 days ago, we have reduced the cost of renting cars 10 times. We started in June from a monthly cost of 850,000 lei, today we are at a cost of 84,000 lei, it's true, and we no longer have drivers," Jurca said at the Victoria Palace. He specified that, upon taking office, the contract with RA-APPS provided for 30 cars with a driver, with a total monthly cost of approximately 850,000 lei, and after reducing the number by half, in the period June-September, the costs decreased to 425,000 lei per month. "Our goal was to reduce public spending as much as possible and we continue to work daily for this purpose," Jurca emphasized. According to the Chancellery, the new operational leasing contract includes 17 Dacia Duster vans, purchased following a competitive procedure, based on the most advantageous financial offers. Government representatives claim that the new leasing system eliminates driver costs and significantly reduces fleet maintenance, contributing to a budget saving of over 90% compared to the previous level. Adrian Câciu's criticisms appear against the backdrop of a public debate on the use of official vehicles by state institutions and the level of administrative expenses borne from public funds. Representatives of the Chancellery have not announced, for now, whether they will formulate a legal point of view on the interpretation of the notion of "utility vehicle" invoked by Câciu.