WHO"S GOING TO TAKE OVER "REALITATEA TV"? The Vîntu surprise: Elan and Cocoş

• Elan Schwartzenberg, the newly appointed owner of the Realitatea TV channel has business partnerships with a friend of Elena Udrea

• The Petrom union, part of the Vîntu-Elan trade

The takeover of the Realitatea TV news station by businessman Elan Schwartzenberg shows that the political-economic interest groups are trying to consolidate their media strength before a new electoral year.

Sorin Ovidiu Vîntu officially gives up the control over the company which owns the news station to another controversial businessman - Emilian "Elan" Schwartzenberg, after recently having transferred the management of the station to businessman Sebastian Ghiţă, the owner of Asesoft.

As early as Friday, Vîntu had cryptically announced that he had planned a surprise of his own for Traian Băsescu, even as the judges had him arrested once again in the case in which he was charged with blackmailing Sebastian Ghiţă.

The allusion to the president can be explained by the history of businesses cultivated over the last few years by Elan Schwartzenberg, a character who is just as mysterious and has connection to various political-economic factions.

Vîntu"s surprise was revealed the next day, on Saturday, when Elan Schwartzenberg officially confirmed that he had acquired 92% of Realitatea TV.

THE "ELAN" affair. In April 2007, Elan Schwartzenberg joined România SRL Bucureşti, owned by Hungarian businessman Rudas Erno, known as an important partner of UDMR leader Verestoy Attila, as well as of other major Romanian businessmen.

Ana-Maria Topoliceanu, friend and former business partner of Elena Udrea, the current minister of Development and Tourism also joined the company owned by Rudas at the same time as Elan Schwartzenberg.

Elena Udrea and Ana-Maria Topoliceanu were associated in the company "Elan Group" which was then taken over by Dorin Cocoş, the minister"s spouse.

During her tenure as Minister, Elena Udrea constantly promoted Ana-Maria Topoliceanu in several boards of directors of tourism companies owned by the ministry (Mamaia SA, Litoral SA şi Neptun Olimp SA), as well as at the helm of the National Investment Company, controlled by the Ministry of Development.

Rudas Erno was presented in the media as the former head of the Hungarian intelligence residence in Romania prior to 1989, after which he went into business with influential leaders such as Verestoy Attila, Dinu Patriciu or former PM Călin Popescu Tăriceanu.

Just like Rudas Erno, Elan Schwartzenberg was for many years a major player in the outdoor advertising panel industry. The former husband of Mihaela Rădulescu has also owned Exclusiv Media and News Outdoor Media. Both outdoor advertising companies were controlled by Elan Schwartzenberg through offshore companies located in the Virgin Islands.

YOUNG MANAGERS. Before going into business with the friend of the Cocoş family, Elan Schwartzenberg was close to the Păunescu family, with which he is associated in the "B1 TV" TV station.

Elan Schwartzenberg founded the "Association for Promoting Youth", in 2002, together with the son of George Constantin Păunescu and with the current head of B1 TV, Sorin Oancea. Also co-opted as founding members were Victor Ponta (the current leader of the PSD), Cozmin Guşă (at the time secretary general of the Social-Democrat Party), Ion Bazac (former Minister of Health), Şerban Roibu (the son of the former treasurer of the PSD, Aristide Roibu and the owner of the newspaper "Gardianul" until the publication was taken over by Sorin Ovidiu Vîntu).

The association also had Libyan businessman Khalil Abi Cahaine as a member, well known for several controversial real estate businesses in Iaşi together with the Schrotter family, which was a business partner of Elan Schwartzenberg.

The goal of the aforementioned NGO was to promote young managers. The first president of the Association was Cozmin Guşă, who until recently was a business partner of Sorin Ovidiu Vîntu. Of all those who were involved in the Association for the Promotion of Youth, Victor Ponta has the most interesting career: chief of the control body of the prime-minister, chief of youth in the PSD, minister, president of the PSD.

Prior to becoming one of the important sponsors of the PDL, Sebastian Ghiţă had a similarly winding political road as Schwartzenberg did, being a good friend of Victor Ponta and the groomsman of Codruţ Şereş, an important member of the Conservative Party.

What goes around comes around.

Expectations that the Udrea-Cocoş group was considering taking over the Realitatea group have been around for some time. Even Vîntu said last year, after his arrest in the Popa case, that representatives of the faction has attempted to take over his TV station. If these suspicions are confirmed, then Realitatea TV would return to the faction from which Sorin Ovidiu Vîntu bought it in the electoral year 2004, when Traian Băsescu was elected president.

Vîntu took over the TV station from Bluelink Comunicazione Elveţia, a company controlled, according to the media, by the Petrache-Bittner faction, the traditional associates of Dorin Cocoş. The liquidation of the Swiss company and its relocation to Cyprus makes it hard to find the real owners of the companies, because the island still counts as a tax haven.

In order for Elan Schwartzenberg to take over 92% of Realitatea Media, the company which owns the TV station, he was required to buy the full stake of 86.5% held by Cyprus-based BluelinK Comunicazione Limited, as well as the shares of the Federation of Free and Independent Unions of Petrom, led by Liviu Luca, which holds 5.5%.

Bluelink Comunicazione Cyprus was created by Vîntu after liquidating the Swiss company with the same name, created by the Petrache-Bittner group.