Well, it’s only “crazy amounts” of money if you’re unfamiliar with the standard amount of graft and corruption that goes on every day in Romania, especially in the capital. From here:

Among the more jaw-dropping details are districts paying €1,000 ($1,083) apiece for park benches, and one area splashing out a total of €8,200 ($8,886) on 13 trashcans lovingly fashioned from exotic wood.

No mention of the fact that the mayor of Bucharest during this era of over-spending, Sorin Oprescu, is currently in jail on corruption charges. But hey, how could a lazy and ignorant American journalist be expected to know that?