The Executive said the granting of compensations entails a budget effort of nearly 1.5 billion lei (EUR336 million), which would affect the country’s deficit target for 2012.
In March this year, the former Ungureanu government had decided to suspend for six months the issue of certificates whereby the people whose property was abusively seized during the communist period receive compensations. The former Cabinet argued at the time that the measure is necessary to “consolidate” the normative frame needed to enforce the legislation in the field and was taken as a result of an internal audit, of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) compelling Romania to tackle the issue of compensations within an 18-month deadline, which expires in July, and the fact that the state holds only few shares in investment fund Fondul Proprietatea.
The certificates are issued by the Central Commission Establishing Damages, on behalf of the state, and can be converted into shares issued by Fondul Proprietatea or into payment certificates.
Under the law, former owners of property nationalized during the communist regime can choose to receive cash compensations up to RON500,000, and shares in Fondul Proprietatea for the remaining sum. If the amount requested reaches up to RON250,000, the payment will be made in one tranche, and if the amount is higher, the payment will be made in two tranches, during a two-year period. The Property Restitution Authority (ANRP) registered 25,222 requests for compensations by the end of January 2012.
End-2010, Romania was given 18 months to amend the legislation regarding compensation for nationalized property, after the ECHR said the way the Romanian state currently pays compensations is not efficient.
Fondul Proprietatea was set up to ensure the financial resources needed to pay compensation to persons abusively expropriated during the communist regime. (EUR1=RON4.4587)