An official document says the increase in travel costs has been calculated starting 2005 and costs for travel abroad by public local institutions and authorities have grown by 263% and by 11% at the level of the country’s consolidated budget.
In the same timeframe, protocol costs have increased by 87% at the level of the public local administration and by 29% at the level of the country’s consolidated budget.
Romania’s Government has recently adopted an emergency ordinance that bans public institutions and state-owned companies from buying consultancy and legal assistance services if they already have specialized employees and forces them to cut staff and travel spending by 30%. The act says ministers, minister-delegates, state secretaries and other public officials may be accompanied by two assistants at most when traveling abroad in official capacity, to lower travel spending.
The ordinance also forbids public institutions from ordering feasibility studies or other research for investment objectives, if studies on the same target have already been made in the last five years (in which case the old studies will be updated), or if the project cannot be included in next year’s investment plan. Studies made with a view to accessing foreign non-refundable financing are exempt from this interdiction.