Radio România Internațional

Tag: anti-corruption prosecutors

  • November 23, 2016 UPDATE

    November 23, 2016 UPDATE

    BUDGET REVISION— The Romanian government on Wednesday approved a second budget revision this year. According to finance minister, Anca Dragu, this is a positive one and reflects the efficient way in which the public money was spent, as well as the fact that Romania registered economic growth. The revision will bring more money to such fields as healthcare, investments, direct payments in agriculture and will also support some projects and policies in the domain of education and social assistance, financed by the local public administration. The revision was intended to redistribute funds which can no longer be spent by the end of 2016, to assure the financing of programs that are currently being developed and is based on the idea of maintaining the budget deficit target below 3% of the GDP.



    MICROSOFT 2 CASE – The National Anticorruption Directorate on Wednesday called for the Romanian president’s approval in order to start criminal investigation against former ministers Dan Nica, Alexandru Athanasiu and Adriana Ţicău, for abuse of office in the “Microsoft 2” case. Dan Nica was minister of communications and IT (2000-2004), Silvia Adriana Ţicău, was successively, state secretary, minister of communications and IT (in the 2003-2004 period) and Alexandru Athanasiu, education and research minister. They are accused of involvement in the initiation, approval and backing of draft executive decisions which led to the signing of a Microsoft licensing contract with Fujitsu Siemens and expanding the contract to include Microsoft educational products. The prejudice in this case stands at some 67 million dollars.



    INVESTIGATION — 11 former and acting members of the Board of Administrators of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, including the President Director General Ovidiu Miculescu, are investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office with the Sector 1 Court, under suspicion of abuse of office and conflict of interest. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, between July 2011 and January 2014, they were allegedly involved in making decisions during the meetings of the Board of Administrators of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation when service-providing contracts were signed, based on which they allegedly obtained undue benefits worth some 400,000 lei, the equivalent of some 90,000 Euro. The communiqué issued by the Prosecutor’s Office says the continuation of criminal investigation is a stage in the criminal case, regulated under the Criminal Procedure Code, aimed at creating the legal framework for collecting evidence, an activity that can under no circumstance violate the presumption of innocence principle. Several searches were made last week, at the headquarters of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, as well as at the legal and actual headquarters of a company that the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation did business with. A communiqué issued on Tuesday by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation reads the investigations are related to the term of the former Board of Administrators.



    PILOT STRIKE — Almost 900 flights by German flagship company Lufthansa have been cancelled, around one third of the total, including five return flights between Munich and Bucharest, as well as three return flights between Bucharest and Frankfurt. The protest will continue until Friday. The pilot strike will be affecting over 100,000 people. The pilot union is demanding raises worth an average of 3.7%, rejecting the offer made by management, amounting to 2.5%. The union turned down the offer, saying it amounted to a salary freeze. This wage war has been going on since 2014, with the union organizing over 14 protests. On Tuesday, 60 flights were cancelled for Eurowings, Lufthansas low cost division.



    HIGHWAY — The Romanian Ministry of Transportation announced it approved the project to build the highway linking the cities of Pitesti and Sibiu for its entire length, 123 km, at a cost of 1.6 billion Euro. This is the last segment of the fourth European corridor, and is supposed to be finalized in 2021, a year earlier than the master plan. This project had been in limbo for a long time, as the state could not decide on a method of financing, which hindered national development. The construction of this segment was demanded by car builders Renault and Ford, that have automotive plants in Romania, criticizing the lack of a high speed road as part of this European route.(Translated by C. Cotoiu and D. Vijeu)

  • May 25, 2016

    May 25, 2016

    On Wednesday, the last day of his visit to the United States, Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos is meeting with the US Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz and with representatives of the American business sector. Ciolos will promote Romania’s potential for economic development and will encourage American companies to invest in this country. On Tuesday, PM Ciolos held talks at the White House with the US Vice President Joe Biden. Bucharest requested support for a multinational brigade on Romanian territory, under NATO umbrella, to strengthen the defence system on the Alliance’s south-east European border. Vice President Biden reiterated his country’s commitment to strengthening security and defence in the Euro-Atlantic area. Also on Tuesday, Dacian Ciolos met with representatives of the Romanian community in Washington DC.




    Romanian Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, has denied, in a public letter, the accusations levelled at him by anti-corruption prosecutors, saying he is their victim. On Tuesday, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate has announced that Tariceanu is prosecuted for false testimony and encouraging the offender. Tariceanu is the second most important official in the state, given the position he is currently holding, that of Senate Speaker. He is also co-president of the recently set up centre-rightist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, (ALDE). Between 2004 and 2008, when he was the leader of the National Liberal Party, he held the position of prime minister.




    Negotiations between trade unions in education and Government representatives will continue, after Tuesday’s talks ended without an agreement. Unionists are pushing for salary increase and are unhappy with the amounts earmarked for education. The president of the Federation of Trade Unions in Education, Marius Nistor, has said that unless a solution is reached in the next round of negotiations, on June 1 trade unions will stage a rally in Bucharest. Also on Wednesday, defense industry and environment workers have protested in Bucharest, asking for bigger salaries.




    Romania’s state budget in the first quarter of this year has an additional amount of three billion lei, that is 665 million euros, while the level of taxes and duties collected by the National Agency for Fiscal Administration in the first four months of 2016 is by 3% bigger than initially estimated, Finance Minister Anca Dragu told Radio Romania News. Minister Dragu has warned, however, over the fact that the recent VAT cuts triggered negative inflation. According to a report by the National Bank of Romania, the VAT tax has impacted around 70% of the prices and an improvement of the inflation rate will only be seen at the beginning of next year.




    Eurozone finance ministers have reached a deal with Greece, after marathon talks in Brussels, to unlock 10.3 billion euros in vital bailout cash. The IMF, one of Greece’s main lenders, have insisted to phase in the debt. The disbursement was conditional on Greece delivering on reform promises.




    Romania’s national football team meets Congo today in a friendly match in Como, Italy. The match, just like that against Ukraine, scheduled for Sunday in Turin, is part of a campaign held in preparation for the European Championship due in France, this summer. Romania and the host country will play the opening match, in Paris, on June 10. Also playing in Group A are Switzerland and Albania.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)



  • New Corruption Investigations

    New Corruption Investigations

    Things are starting to look grim for the leader of the National Union for the Progress of Romania Gabriel Oprea, the man who used to hold together the former left-wing ruling coalition. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate on Monday called on the Senate to allow the criminal investigation of the former Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, on charges of abusing the use of his official motorcade. Livia Saplacan, spokesperson for the Directorate, told us more:



    “Gabriel Oprea is facing two charges of abuse of office for obtaining undue benefits for himself or a third party. The first charge is related to the unlawful use of the motorcade by the former Interior Minister.



    The investigation was launched after last October a police officer had died while leading the motorcade accompanying the high-ranking official. Ensuing inquiries revealed that in 2015 alone Gabriel Oprea had used police escort no less than 1,600 times. Prosecutors claim the rides were often personal in nature. Moreover, Gabriel Oprea had allegedly offered the same illegal benefit to the current Prosecutor General Tiberiu Nitu. While the latter refused to comment, the former told the press:



    “I consider myself innocent, and this will be confirmed sooner or later. I also believe it is the prosecutors duty to look into any suspicions linked to potential offences.



    Political pundits say Gabriel Oprea mismanaged the whole business publicly. He refused to step down at the time and shortly afterwards he had a poor attempt of regaining the credibility he had lost by taking an affected role in the investigations into the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest. His ruse failed and in fact the whole Cabinet had to resign due to public pressure. Protesters at the time condemned corruption in the central and local administration. Gabriel Opreas run-ins with the law have only just begun.



    In another move, also on Monday, Social-Democrat Deputy Ion Stan has been sentenced to two years in prison for influence peddling. The ruling of the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest is final. Stan was charged with receiving bribes during the election campaign of 2012 from businesspeople in exchange for contracts with the state. Additionally, in 2009, while he was the chairman of the Social-Democratic county organization, Ion Stan received on behalf of his party, election campaign products, in exchange for using his influence over certain mayors and local officials to facilitate contracts at local level.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • New Corruption Investigations

    New Corruption Investigations

    Things are starting to look grim for the leader of the National Union for the Progress of Romania Gabriel Oprea, the man who used to hold together the former left-wing ruling coalition. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate on Monday called on the Senate to allow the criminal investigation of the former Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, on charges of abusing the use of his official motorcade. Livia Saplacan, spokesperson for the Directorate, told us more:



    “Gabriel Oprea is facing two charges of abuse of office for obtaining undue benefits for himself or a third party. The first charge is related to the unlawful use of the motorcade by the former Interior Minister.



    The investigation was launched after last October a police officer had died while leading the motorcade accompanying the high-ranking official. Ensuing inquiries revealed that in 2015 alone Gabriel Oprea had used police escort no less than 1,600 times. Prosecutors claim the rides were often personal in nature. Moreover, Gabriel Oprea had allegedly offered the same illegal benefit to the current Prosecutor General Tiberiu Nitu. While the latter refused to comment, the former told the press:



    “I consider myself innocent, and this will be confirmed sooner or later. I also believe it is the prosecutors duty to look into any suspicions linked to potential offences.



    Political pundits say Gabriel Oprea mismanaged the whole business publicly. He refused to step down at the time and shortly afterwards he had a poor attempt of regaining the credibility he had lost by taking an affected role in the investigations into the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest. His ruse failed and in fact the whole Cabinet had to resign due to public pressure. Protesters at the time condemned corruption in the central and local administration. Gabriel Opreas run-ins with the law have only just begun.



    In another move, also on Monday, Social-Democrat Deputy Ion Stan has been sentenced to two years in prison for influence peddling. The ruling of the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest is final. Stan was charged with receiving bribes during the election campaign of 2012 from businesspeople in exchange for contracts with the state. Additionally, in 2009, while he was the chairman of the Social-Democratic county organization, Ion Stan received on behalf of his party, election campaign products, in exchange for using his influence over certain mayors and local officials to facilitate contracts at local level.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)