Romanian State Secretary With Econ Ministry Alice Bitu Resigns – Sources

MEDIAFAX could not reach the state secretary over the phone to explain the reasons for her resignation.

According to the cited sources, the position will likely remain vacant until the end of the government’s mandate, and the economy minister and the other state secretaries will share Bitu’s attributions.

Bitu was appointed state secretary in January 2006, and was in charge of European funds, harmonization of legislation and European integration.

The Romanian authorities, following June’s audit report of the European Commission signaling deficiencies, suspended payments to SAPARD beneficiaries.

The Commission asked Romania to set up a plan to solve the signaled deficiencies, and will resume SAPARD payments after the response presented by an independent auditor’ report.

The Agency announced on September 1 it had implemented the set of measures meant to alleviate the deficiencies signaled by the European Commission, and submitted a report to the National Fund.

The National Fund confirmed that the plan observes the European Commission’s recommendations and said payments could be resumed, after the requests are checked again.

The Agency sent to the National Fund a funding request to resume payments to SAPARD beneficiaries, and is expecting an answer on Thursday.