He clarified that 98 of them are being merged into 33 “larger and stronger municipalities.” Thus, by the end of the voluntary merger phase, the local public administration reform had accelerated significantly.
According to Alexei Buza, 142,000 people live in these communities, and more than half a billion lei will be allocated for development projects for them.
“The funds will be provided to their residents in accordance with the commitments made and the established schedule. The process is ongoing. Another 48 municipalities intend to make final decisions on consolidation,” Alexei Buza added.
Midweek, Buzu announced that the voluntary consolidation process will not be extended and will end on July 31, after which the government will launch the so-called regulatory or mandatory consolidation in August.
As a reminder, the Congress of Local Authorities proposed extending the voluntary period until the end of this year. According to members of the organization, the date of July 31 is not specified in the legislation and therefore cannot be considered the legal end of the process.
According to data provided by the authorities, more than a thousand decisions on voluntary consolidation have been approved to date. This represents about 70 percent of the country’s municipalities.
