March 23 (SeeNews) - The European Commission is directing over 1 billion euro ($1.07 billion) of its funds to help Romania fight the coronavirus disease as well as support small companies weather the economic impact of the crisis, the Commission's Romanian office said.
The Commission will not request Romania to reimburse 483 million euro unused pre-financing from structural funds, according to a document published on social media by the Commission's office in Romania on Friday evening.
In addition, 637 million euro will be redirected to Romania as upfront disbursement of structural funds previously approved by the Commission for disbursement in March and April.
The funds will help Romania support its healthcare system by financing the purchase of protective equipment, medicines and test kits, adapting the healthcare environment to the current situation, ensuring access of vulnerable people to medical facilities and providing credit facilities for SMEs.
Romania has so far confirmed 567 cases of the coronavirus infection and 5 deaths, according to latest data from the health ministry.
($= 0.9318 euro)