State freezes payments toward public and co-funded projects

At least a month ago the ministries of Development and Finance froze all payments toward public and jointly funded projects, likely in order to prevent the state budget deficit for 2021 from swelling further. This has generated significant problems in the market, with dozens of companies finding themselves in a precarious financial position for which they are not to blame. In some cases the payment freeze started at end-September, and in October it had spread across all projects and studies funded by the Public Investments Program or the European Union. The problem is most acute for construction firms, given the rising cost of building materials.