Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), states that there is a need for reindustrialization of Romania, stressing that this will not be done by the Romanian state, but in a partnership with the private sector, informs Agerpres.
He was asked on Tuesday evening, for local TV broadcaster Digi 24, how it is with the country’s reindustrialization plan, in the context of a statement recently made by Nicolae Ciuca, the leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), according to which „someone else did reindustrialization and it didn’t work”.
„I understand the whole political game. (…) It’s normal that Romania needs reindustrialization. (…) I assume that he referred to Ceausescu. I inform Mr. Ciuca that I was not a party member, I don’t know if his lordship was, but I was not a party member, neither was Mihai Tudose, neither were I. (…) Romania needs re-industrialization – we discussed them within the coalition and we all approved them. They came, I asked them in the Government, then I presented them within the coalition. Vice Prime Minister Marian Neacsu worked on them together with the Minister of Finance, for that we have almost 1 billion euros in certificates. And I said, ‘sir, let’s not throw away the money, let’s direct it, let’s restart parts of Romania’s former industry’. What’s wrong with that?,” declared Marcel Ciolacu.
He explained that the plan involves partnerships with the private sector.
„This time the Romanian state is not doing it (reindustrialization – ed. n), the private sector is doing it. I am becoming a partner alongside the private sector. (…) I am informing Mr. Ciuca that the economic system has changed,” declared Ciolacu.
Asked why he still thinks that Nicolae Ciuca made the statement regarding the reindustrialization plan, he said: „Because we are in the logic of the campaign. The problem is different. I will never do this. I would disown myself. I it became embarrassing to do so”.
He added that he does not know if Nicolae Ciuca is „embarrassing”, when asked in this regard.
„I don’t know. It would become embarrassing if I did it myself. That’s what I consider. I didn’t say about anyone that it’s embarrassing. But why do you do this when you’re part of a Government – half of the Government is PNL, half of the Government is the PSD – when were the projects discussed, and at the PSD and the PNL after the decision with the 2 billion? It is written in the Draghi Plan. The industrial decline has been in Romania for three years I don’t know if we looked at the numbers very well. In Germany, there is a major decrease,” Ciolacu said.
