Road carriers may request state aid from the Ministry of Public Finance

Although the general EU legislation excludes transport companies from businesses eligible to obtain state aid, the crisis seems to have changed this too. Last month the Road Transport Department in the Ministry of Transports and Infrastructure instructed the Romanian Road Authority (ARR for short, in Romanian) to inform the public about state aid schemes for the small and medium enterprises active in road transport.

According to ARR, the Ministry of Public Finances is the entity coordinating state aid schemes and road hauliers are eligible in a single such program. In this state aid scheme, eligible SMEs may get up to 100.000 Euros, for a maximum period of three consecutive fiscal years. There is however a restriction on money destination: state aid can not be granted for the purchase of transport vehicles.