The total overdue sum that must be reimbursed to EU-fund beneficiaries through the program exceeds 500 million lei (EUR114 million), said the minister.
Following talks with the minister-delegate for Budget and the ministers of Finance and for European Funds, a solution has been found to resume reimbursements, she added.
According to Grapini, the money might be paid through state-owned lenders CEC Bank and Eximbank, using a scheme applied in Poland.
Romania runs seven programs financed with structural and cohesion funds. At the end of October 2012, the European Union pre-suspended payments for five of them (the programs for human resources, transport, economic competitiveness, environment and regional development) after it found a series of irregularities regarding public procurement. The five programs have been allotted the highest amount of funds in the 2007-2013 financial framework.
On November 28, 2012 the European Commission said it would resume payments for the program for environment.
Former European Affairs Minister Leonard Orban estimated the EC would resume payments for the programs for transport and economic competitiveness in the first half of 2013. (EUR1=RON4.3802)