He gave assurance people who bought such homes would not be kicked out as former owners would be compensated by the state under the new law. Ponta explained on public radio the new law sets that former owners can have their property back in kind where possible and will receive money for instances where the property cannot be returned for various reasons, including cases where it was bought by former tenants.
The government will seek a confidence vote in Parliament Wednesday to adopt the new bill regulating the restitution of property, which sets that former owners of nationalized homes in Romania whose property cannot be returned in kind will receive points with a face value of 1 leu (EUR0.22), considering the value of the building, which they can use to buy other homes at auction or change them into currency after 2017.
Romania has so far returned 9,026 buildings, including schools, kindergartens, and hospitals, and nearly one million hectares of land and forests. The state has also paid compensation of EUR5 billion and requests for extra EUR8 million are pending settlement.