The Court of Accounts identified reservations about Cluj-Napoca City Hall's financial statements after auditors found that metro line prepayments totaled over 1.078 billion lei (217 million euro at today's rate). By December 31, 2024, only 60.4 million lei had been recovered — 5.6 percent of the total.

Mayor Emil Boc said the prepayment was made based on legal provisions that allow recovery until construction completion rather than by calendar year-end. "That's why the usual rule doesn't apply to the metro, because it's a large-scale undertaking," Boc told local media. "No one can imagine finishing a metro in one year so as to return the prepayment in that year by the end of the calendar year."

Auditors warned of potential delays and increased contract value for the construction work. The Court of Accounts found that actual works did not justify the level of prepayments granted, according to its 2024 report on the city's finances.

Boc said a portion of the prepayment is deducted from each invoice issued by the metro constructor. Cluj-Napoca City Hall confirmed that recovery stands at 25 percent from each work situation submitted by the contractor.

The construction firm provided a letter of guarantee for the prepayment, Boc said. He clarified that rules for large-scale undertakings differ from ordinary contracts regarding recovery, with legislation permitting extended timelines tied to completion rather than annual accounting periods.

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The metro construction represents one of the most ambitious infrastructure undertakings in Romania outside Bucharest. Cluj-Napoca has emerged as one of the country's most economically dynamic cities in recent decades, driving demand for expanded public transport capacity.

The Court of Accounts is Romania's supreme audit institution, responsible for overseeing management of public funds. Its annual reports frequently identify risks or irregularities in public spending by state institutions and local governments.

Large-scale infrastructure contracts in Romania typically involve substantial prepayments to facilitate material procurement and initiation. Such payments are subject to legal frameworks requiring guarantees to protect public money, given the multi-year timelines and financial exposure inherent in major construction undertakings.

The 1.078 billion lei prepayment represents a significant portion of Cluj-Napoca's annual budget. The gap between the total prepayment and the amount recovered by year-end 2024 — more than 1 billion lei — drew auditors' attention in their review of the city's financial position.

Boc has served as mayor of Cluj-Napoca since 2004, with an interruption between 2008 and 2012 when he held the position of Prime Minister. The metro construction has been a centerpiece of his administration's infrastructure agenda, intended to alleviate traffic congestion in Romania's second-largest urban area.