AFTER AN EXTREMELY HARSH LETTER SENT IN NOVEMBER Gabriel Dumitraşcu files criminal complaint against Energy Minister

Gabriel Dumitraşcu, former head of the privatization department of the Energy Ministry, who ran for the Supervisory Board of Hidroelectrica, yesterday filed a criminal complaint against Victor Vlad Grigorescu, current Energy minister, with the Prosecutor's Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, alleging abuse in office. Mr. Dumitraşcu alleges irregularities in the executive recruitment procedures at Hidroelectrica.

In the criminal complaint, the former OPSPI head writes the following: "In fact, in the beginning of 2016, I, the undersigned, as former special administrator of Hidroelectrica, have informed Energy minister Victor Vlad Grigorescu, that Hidroelectrica's exit from insolvency was imminent, as well as about the need to start the procedures for the recruitment of the members of Supervisory Board of the company.

Acknowledging that information, the Energy minister decided to start the selection process, which is why he selected a company specialized in recruitment and also negotiated a contract, but, for reasons unknown, did not sign it, only to then, at the end of July, halt the signing of the contract, after uncovering a so-called flaw in the selection procedure. Following a new procedure, another recruitment company, Transearch International SRL, was appointed, together with Quest Advisors SRL.

Thinking that I met the legal and professional requirements and seeking to be on the Supervisory Board of Hidroelectrica, I filed a request/application towards that end, and due to meeting the mandatory requirements, I was called in for my first interview on November 1st, 2016, which was conducted by Johannes Burghold - Managing Director. On that occasion, I was surprised to find that Mr. Johannes Burghold had a very precarious knowledge of Romanian, and as a result I had to give that interview, over the course of 70 minutes, predominantly in English.

I subsequently found out that most of the applicants had their interviews in Romanian, with Romanian recruiters, and their communication was a lot easier and relevant, as they were speaking their mother tongue.

Because this different approach gave an additional advantage to some of the candidates, an advantage which was the precisely the result of the violation of the legal principle of equal treatment, I saw fit to submit to the Energy minister the dispute sent by email on November 9th 2016.

On November 10th, 2016, I received from the recruitment firms a notice that my application had not been selected for the next stage of the recruitment process.

Since I had submitted the dispute to the Energy minister prior to receiving that answer, I found it appropriate to notify the recruitment firm about the fact that I would disregard the response in question until my complaint received a resolution from the minister.

On November 19th, 2016, I received from the same recruitment company the response to the dispute I had filed with the minister, which is why, on November 21st, 2016, I reminded the Energy minister about the dispute I had filed on November 9th, and told him that verifying the legality of the selection procedure was his responsibility, rather than that of the recruitment company, and that it wasn't enough for him to submit my complaint to the entity the activity of which I had asked to be investigated.

Following these clarifications, the ministry of Energy did not see fit to formulate a response to the facts I had described in my dispute.

Starting from those facts, it is my opinion that Victor Vlad Grigorescu, by violating the legal responsibilities that were part of his job description in the Ministry of Energy, as the supervisory authority of Hidroelectrica, has committed the offense of abuse in office.

It is my opinion that the criminal deed committed by Victor Vlad Grigorescu results from the manner in which he saw fit to select the recruitment company which was going to select the Supervisory Board, as well as ignoring the illegal aspects in the selection procedure conducted by Transearch Internaţional SRL, which also violated the constitutional duty of the public authority to respond to petitions within the delays required by the law, which allowed the continuation of a recruitment procedure which is suspected of illegality".

• Open letter: "Please abstain from promoting discretionary appointments in energy companies, which I would assume are intended to favor your circle of friends and camarilla or non-transparent interest groups"

In November, Gabriel Dumitraşcu sent a very harsh letter to the current Energy minister, Victor Grigorescu, accusing him, among other things, of discretionary nominations in energy companies. "Please refrain from promoting, in the last days of your term, discretionary nominations in energy companies, which I would assume are intended to favor your circle of friends and the camarilla or non-transparent interest groups, to whom you are trying to grant sinecures on your way out", said Gabriel Dumitraşcu in the letter, and he went on to say: "«Zero tolerance to any kinds of irregularities», as you have repeatedly stated dozens of times in your public interventions is a healthy and solid principle, which you should also apply to yourself and realize that you do not have the integrity that would grant you credibility and your previous transgressions and dubious actions in the appointments made at Electrica, OilTerminal, CE Oltenia, SAPE do not speak in your favor either (...). Minister, stop, the costs of imposture are enormous as it is! Please stop with the recruitment procedures as your term is ending and with the appointments in the energy companies".

Gabriel Dumitraşcu also stated in the letter in question that there were suspicions concerning the procedures conducted by the new recruiter for the management of Hidroelectrica.

He has participated in the selection for the Supervisory Board of Hidroelectrica, but he didn't make the shortlist. Gabriel Dumitraşcu filed a dispute, and told us: "The suspicious hurry in appointing the Supervisory Board towards the end of the current term as minister, after doing nothing concrete for months on end, as well as the violations of existing laws in conducting the recruitment procedures, have caused me to submit that dispute. Hidroelectrica is a national asset and it should be treated responsibly and with professionalism, including by the Energy minister".

The Energy ministry has not yet announced the results of the selection process for the Supervisory Board of Hidroelectrica.

Some voices in the market claim that the list of selected candidates includes Corina Popescu, Romeo Susanu, Oana Truţă, Radu Coşarcă and three foreigners. Apparently the Ministry sought to appoint that Supervisory Board prior to the elections, but it did not have the backing of the Proprietatea Fund.