The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has indicted six defendants in Romania over the alleged fraudulent purchase of two tugboats for the Lower Danube, a project that received about €7 million in European Union funding. The EPPO office in Cluj-Napoca filed the indictment with the Iași Court on 26 October 2026.

The defendants are four public officials from the Lower Danube River Administration (AFDJ Galați), an individual and a company. Prosecutors say the tender for the two multi-purpose, ice-class tugboats was rigged: the specifications included technical requirements for seagoing vessels, even though the boats were meant for inland waterways. That narrowed the field of eligible bidders and favoured a single company, according to the EPPO.

The vessels were delivered in 2021, but prosecutors say they failed a critical contractual requirement. Their actual draught — the depth of water a vessel needs to float safely — was 2.6 metres, above the two-metre maximum set in the contract. Despite this, the four officials accepted the tugboats and signed final acceptance reports falsely stating that they met the technical requirements.

Because of their deeper draught, the tugboats can only be used safely when water levels along their intended route are high enough, limiting their use on the Danube, particularly during periods of low water. The boats were meant to support navigation in low-water conditions and to assist vessels in distress.

The project was funded under the EU's 2014–2020 Large Infrastructure Operational Programme, and prosecutors estimate the damage to the EU budget at around €7 million. The EPPO investigated the procurement from March 2024, when it searched 12 premises linked to the river administration and the Romanian Naval Authority. If found guilty, the defendants face between three and ten and a half years in prison. All those concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent Romanian courts. Source: EPPO