Broken doors and hijacked emails
In 2025, security guards at the Tohan ammunition plant discovered 14 access doors left wide open and unlocked. In the pyrotechnic storage section, broken windows and doors held shut with "nothing more than wire" leave dangerous materials exposed, according to BIRN documents. Lighting at the site is failing, with one storage area having only 5 per cent functional lighting. The perimeter fence is missing in several places. At other Romarm facilities, machinery dates back to the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. In one plant, workers improvise to get readings because basic measuring equipment is so degraded. The company did not respond to BIRN.
These state defense plants suffer from cybersecurity failures. Hackers hijacked an email exchange at Tohan with a real German supplier to trick staff into wiring more than 20,000 euros to a fraudulent account, according to public documents. A 2024 report says a hacker at the Fagaras gunpowder plant intercepted communications with a Slovakian supplier to redirect 17,000 euros meant for a shipment of concentrated nitric acid to a false bank account. This case is currently before a court in Poland. These criminal actors gain access to internal systems of companies that should have appropriate levels of cybersecurity.
Money flows into aging plants
Romania submitted a national investment plan to access 16.7 billion euros in cheap loans through the EU’s Security Action for Europe program, and it received an initial 2.5 billion euro pre-financing payment in August. Romania holds the second-largest share of these loans in the EU after Poland. While the army will use these funds instead of paying Romarm directly, the Defence Ministry says companies including Cugir, Sadu, Electromecanica, and Romarm’s Bucharest plant will participate. The government also signed a 535-million-euro deal with Rheinmetall in August 2025 to build a new gunpowder plant at Victoria on the same site as Pirochim.
| Program/Deal | Amount |
|---|---|
| EU national investment plan | 16.7 billion euros |
| EU pre-financing payment | 2.5 billion euros |
| Rheinmetall production deal | 535 million euros |
The government signed an industrial cooperation agreement to base future production of pistols, automatic weapons, and ammunition at the Cugir and Sadu plants. The factories are decrepit, and critics say the billions promised to rebuild Romania’s state-owned defense industry will be swallowed up in badly managed investments.
