The draft law by which the Romanian state cedes free of charge 46 hectares of land in the most expensive area in Bucharest to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) was voted on Wednesday by the Senate plenary. The result of the vote was 81 for, 38 against and 2 abstentions. Only a day ago, the project had received a favorable report from the Economic Commission, with the votes of PSD and PNL. The project now goes to the Chamber of Deputies, the last hop before promulgation.
A real estate megaproject developed with the Iulius group is to be built on the land. At this moment, the land belongs to the state (through the Autonomous Administration of State Patrimony) and is leased to the Chamber of Commerce.
The Senate voted the law after the committee of leaders decided on Wednesday morning to convene a plenary session for Wednesday at 12.00. On the agenda of the meeting there were only four bills, none urgent or likely to enter the tacit adoption procedure.
“Normally, the Senate does not have plenary sessions on Wednesday. The other projects today were not emergencies, the only emergency for PSD and PNL was the Romexpo project. This is how we take care of state assets, we can’t make fun of them. It should have been a transparent tender with the land at Romexpo, from which the state could obtain half a billion euros with which it could implement the hot meal program or build hospitals. President Iohannis asked for additional guarantees when he sent the law for re-examination, but they have not been introduced in the project even now “, said for G4Media.ro Anca Dragu, the president of the Senate (USR).
Context. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania and the Iulius Group, controlled by the businessman from Iași, Iulian Dascălu, want to build a huge complex at Romexpo, with 14 towers (reaching up to 42 floors). The project would be built on land owned by the state (through the Autonomous Administration of State Heritage) and is leased to the Chamber of Commerce.
The Parliament voted in September 2020 the bill, following a PSD-PNL-PMP agreement. In reply, USR challenged the draft in the Constitutional Court, but the CCR decided that it was constitutional.
President Iohannis states in the request for re-examination that the guarantees provided by law “are not sufficient to ensure the implementation of the development project”.
Iohannis also states in the request for re-examination that “the very high economic value of the lands covered by law requires from the Parliament an even more rigorous analysis, so that the activity of managing the private property of the state is diligent, judicious, in accordance with the interest general public, to comply with the legal norms in force and not to be itself generating damages ”.
What Romexpo and the Iulius Group want to build. The real estate project was submitted to the Capital City Hall for obtaining the Zonal Urban Plan (PUZ), according to HotNews.ro. The Chamber of Commerce and the Iulius Group want a gigantic complex, with 14 new buildings with various destinations: offices, homes, hotels, commercial spaces and museums, plus 12,000 parking spaces. The project also promises an Art Museum dedicated exclusively to the sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi, a Museum of Monetary History and an oceanarium (water park).
The investment is estimated at a total value of over 2.87 billion euros and will be made in stages, according to a statement from the Chamber of Commerce.
The land on which the complex would be built belongs to the Autonomous Administration of the State Protocol Heritage, according to a government decision of 2004, and is given to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR) for free use for 49 years. The buildings on the land are the property of Romexpo SA. CCIR and the Iulius Group partnered in 2017 for this project. CCIR undertook to take steps to obtain real ownership of the land on which Romexpo is located.
Photo: The project of the future real estate project at Romexpo / Source: Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
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