By the end of the year, Romania will have the full technological equipment for printing euro banknotes, the Romanian agency Agerpres reported for BTA, citing Cristian Popa, chairman of the Numismatics Commission of the National Bank of Romania and member of the bank's Board of Directors.
„From a technical point of view, we will have the capacity to print euro banknotes according to the high standards of the European Central Bank. For its part, the State Mint has the technological infrastructure and professional skills necessary to carry out euro production activities, in accordance with the requirements and standards imposed by the European monetary authority,“ Popa told Agerpres.
He noted that significant investments have been made in state-of-the-art equipment designed for coin stamping, sorting, counting and packaging, such as high-precision presses for minting bimetallic coins and laser engraving equipment, with the capacity to produce coin minting dies, as well as high-precision micro-engravings or heat treatment furnaces to increase the durability of the dies during the pressing process.
Popa said that it is not just about machines, but above all about people. By the end of the year, the National Bank of Romania and the State Mint will have a full portfolio of state-of-the-art equipment, as well as highly specialized employees with decades of experience in the production of banknotes and coins.
„Of course, the production itself depends on obtaining the necessary certificates and on positive developments in the overall accession process, a process that also foresees the fulfillment of the Maastricht criteria as a precondition and where significant progress is still needed. As for the design, the euro coins have a common side - the same in all Member States, and a specific one for each country. What I can tell you at this stage is that when it comes to choosing a design for a specific country, we will follow and comply with all the recommendations and requirements of the ECB. Unlike euro coins, euro banknotes do not have a national side to indicate where they come from. The ECB is currently in the process of redesigning the euro banknotes, with the aim of making them more durable and environmentally friendly. Last month, the ECB launched a public design competition for the future euro banknotes. The ECB’s Governing Council has already selected two possible themes for the future euro banknotes, after consulting experts and the public. These themes are: “European culture, focusing on common cultural spaces and a series of European personalities; and “Rivers and birds”, said Christian Popa.