In brief

  • The World Bank has cancelled 3,724,365.32 euro from the 60 million loan Romania took out in 2017 to modernise its judicial services. This is money that was never drawn before the deadline.
  • The loan account closed on 31 March 2026, and only now is the Government approving, by decision, the exchange of letters through which the operation was carried out.
  • The cancelled amount is neither borrowed nor repaid. If the original value was not altered in the meantime, Romania actually used 56,275,634.68 euro, that is 93.8 per cent of the loan.
Act: Government Decision no. 644/2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 708 of 26 August 2026
In force from: 26 August 2026

The Ministry of Justice’s second World Bank loan is being wound up in the Official Gazette of Romania on two consecutive days, with almost 3.7 million euro the State never got round to spending. Government Decision no. 644/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 708 of 26 August 2026, approves the exchange of letters between the Romanian Government and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development by which the undrawn balance of the loan agreement for the Judicial Services Improvement Project was cancelled and the account closed. A day earlier, in Official Gazette of Romania no. 702, there had appeared the decision closing the preparation advance for the „Cartierul pentru justiție” judicial campus, likewise through an exchange of letters with the same bank.

The loan agreement was signed in Bucharest on 17 February 2017 and on 27 February 2017 and was ratified by Law no. 173/2017. The Bank identifies the loan by the codes IBRD-8695-RO and P160751, and its value on ratification was 60 million euro, out of a total project cost of 65 million, the remainder being Romania’s own contribution through the budget of the Ministry of Justice.

The legal basis for the decision is Article 108 of the Constitution and Article 7(2) of Law no. 173/2017, the text which requires amendments to the agreement to be approved by Government decision. The act is countersigned by the Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, and, for the Minister of Justice, by State Secretary Teodora Stoian.

In the same issue of the Official Gazette of Romania, the Government also approved a voluntary contribution of 30,000 euro to the Regional Cooperation Council Secretariat.

What it changes in practice

The first effect is the cancellation itself. The Bank’s letter of 7 April 2026 states that, in accordance with the General Conditions of the agreement, the Bank cancels with effect from 31 March 2026 the undrawn balance of 3,724,365.32 euro in the loan account.

The second effect is the closing of the account. The loan account closes on the same date, 31 March 2026, which means that no further drawing can be made from this financing, whatever stage the works or the contracts have reached.

The third effect has to do with the calendar. The closing date of the project had been 30 November 2025, and the disbursement deadline 31 March 2026. Both had passed before the Government adopted the decision, on 20 August 2026.

The fourth effect concerns public debt. The cancelled amount was never drawn, so it does not enter the balance to be repaid and it bears no interest. Unlike the situation in the decision published the day before, here there is no money to give back: there the advance had been used and is being repaid in ten half-yearly instalments, here nothing was drawn at all.

The fifth effect is the confirmation from the State. The Ministry of Finance replied by letter no. 395833 of 29 April 2026, signed by State Secretary Florin-Alexandru Zaharia, confirming receipt of the letter and acknowledging the cancellation and the closing of the account.

The sixth effect is the domestic legal one. The decision does not bring about the cancellation, which had already taken effect in the relationship with the Bank; it brings it into the domestic legal order, as Article 7(2) of the ratifying law requires.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

The first change is the value of the loan. Of the 60 million euro ratified in 2017, at most 56,275,634.68 euro remain drawn. We say „at most” because Law no. 173/2017 has been amended several times, and the text of the decision does not state whether the reference value was still the original one.

The second change is that the financing is no longer available. Until 31 March 2026 there was, in theory, a balance that could be drawn on. After that date there is none.

The third change is an accounting one. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice now report a loan that has been wound up rather than one in progress, and the account from which drawings were made no longer shows as open.

What does not change are the repayment obligations for the part that was drawn. The instalments on the more than 56 million euro actually used continue to run, on the schedule set in the agreement.

Nor does responsibility for the project change. The Ministry of Justice remains the implementing agency, and the components completed by 30 November 2025 remain its concern.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • The undrawn money is not borrowed, so it is not repaid and it bears no interest.
  • The commitment charge on the unused balance ceases once the account is closed.
  • The absorption rate is high for an external loan: roughly 93.8 per cent of the amount was used.
  • The exchange of letters is published in full in the Official Gazette of Romania, in translation, with the amount, the dates and the signatories, so the figure does not have to be hunted down in other sources.
  • Approval by decision formally closes the domestic file, as the ratifying law requires.
  • Closing the account removes the accounting uncertainty around a financing that had in fact expired at the end of 2025.

What remains a problem

  • On 20 August the Government approves an operation that took effect on 31 March, almost five months late.
  • The decision speaks of an „amendment agreed”, whereas the Bank’s letter describes a cancellation made unilaterally, on the basis of the General Conditions, followed only by an acknowledgement of receipt.
  • Neither the decision nor the letters say what it was that went undone with the 3.7 million euro.
  • No final account of the project is published: how many courts, what equipment, which targets were met.
  • The reference figure for the loan does not appear in the decision, so the absorption rate cannot be worked out from the act itself, only from the ratifying law.
  • This is the second closure of Ministry of Justice financing from the same bank in two editions of the Gazette, without either act linking the two files.

Practical advice

  1. If you follow judicial infrastructure projects, note the disbursement deadline: 31 March 2026. After it, expenditure could no longer be settled from this loan.
  2. If you need the project documents, the search codes are IBRD-8695-RO and P160751, used by the World Bank in the published correspondence.
  3. If you are working on a contract financed from this loan, check with the implementation unit at the Ministry of Justice whether invoicing was closed before 31 March 2026.
  4. If you are analysing external public debt, use the amount drawn, not the amount ratified: the difference between the two is exactly the sum cancelled by this act.
  5. If you are reading the decision, go straight to the letters. The sole article contains no figures; all the data are in the two letters published immediately after it.
  6. The act creates no obligations for individuals or companies and calls for no step on the part of the public.

Frequently asked questions

How much was cancelled?
3,724,365.32 euro, the undrawn balance in the loan account, that is the part of the financing Romania did not use.
From when does the cancellation take effect?
From 31 March 2026, the disbursement deadline. The loan account closed on the same date.
Does the State have to give the money back?
No. The cancelled amount was never drawn, so it is not repaid. Only the part actually used is repaid, on the schedule set in the agreement.
How much of the loan did Romania use?
The loan ratified by Law no. 173/2017 was 60 million euro. Subtracting the cancelled amount gives 56,275,634.68 euro drawn, roughly 93.8 per cent.
Why does the decision come only in August?
Because Article 7(2) of Law no. 173/2017 requires amendments to the agreement to be approved by Government decision. The approval comes after the operation, not before it.
Can the account be reopened?
No. The Bank’s letter states that the loan account is closed, on the same date on which the balance is cancelled.
Is this the same as the loan for the „Cartierul pentru justiție” project?
No. That one was a preparation advance, closed by Government Decision no. 640/2026, with a balance to be repaid. This is the main loan for judicial services, and the cancelled amount had never been drawn.
Do I have to do anything as a citizen or as a company?
No. The decision concerns the relationship between the State and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Editorial analysis

The figure that matters is not the one cancelled but the one used. An external loan on which 93.8 per cent is drawn is, in Romania, a good result. The Judicial Services Improvement Project ran for nine years, from February 2017 to the closing date of 30 November 2025, and ended with an undrawn remainder of roughly 6 per cent. The nearest comparison is the decision published the day before, where the preparation advance for the „Cartierul pentru justiție” judicial campus was wound up with money to repay for a project that never started.

The underlying problem with this act is not the amount but the timing. The cancellation took effect on 31 March 2026, the letters were exchanged on 7 and 29 April, and the approving decision was adopted on 20 August and published on 26 August. Almost five months passed between the moment the account closed and the moment the Government confirmed it in the domestic legal order. Approval by decision, required by Article 7(2) of the ratifying law, thus becomes a formality that records a reality already settled, rather than a decision.

The second observation concerns the way the act describes its own subject matter. The title and the sole article speak of an „amendment agreed between the Romanian Government and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development”. The Bank’s letter, published immediately below the decision, says something else: the Bank cancels, on the basis of the General Conditions, and asks for confirmation of receipt. The Ministry of Finance confirms receipt. The phrase „amendment agreed” is the usual one for acts of this kind and is covered by the approval procedure, but a reader who compares the title with the text of the letters sees a negotiation where there was a notification.

The third thing missing is the balance sheet. A 60 million euro loan for judicial services is being wound up without the act saying what was built, what was digitised or which component was left unfinanced. Publishing the letters in full is a gain in transparency, because the exact amount and the dates are there to be seen. But the transparency stops at the financial operation and does not reach the outcome, which is precisely the part that interests anyone who does not work at the Ministry of Finance.

What should be changed

  • Decisions of this kind should state the original value of the loan and the amount actually drawn. The reader could then work out the absorption rate from the act, without having to look up the ratifying law and its amendments.
  • There should be a maximum period between the date on which the amendment takes effect and the date of approval by decision. Five months turn the approval into a late entry in the register.
  • A short annex with the final indicators of the project, whenever an external loan is closed. Without it, the only public information about nine years of financing is how much went unspent.
  • An explicit cross-reference between acts concerning the same lender and the same ministry. Two closures of Ministry of Justice financing from the same bank, in the Gazette on two consecutive days, would be easier to follow if each cited the other.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 708 of 26 August 2026 16 pages PDF, 108 KB the act starts on page 4

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.