BECAUSE THE NATIONAL ANTICORRUPTIONDEPARTMENT HAS ATTACHED PART OF THE PLOT OF LAND, Băneasa Investment wants facilities in order to pay its fiscal debts

The shareholders of Băneasa Investment SA, the company controlled indirectly by Puiu Popoviciu, which developed the notorious Băneasa project in the Northern area of Bucharest recently approved the plan to request from the state facilities for the payment of its tax liabilities.

The representatives of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest (USAMVB), which is a significant minority shareholder (49.88%) of Băneasa Investment, told us: "Due to the fact that part of the plot of land owned by Băneasa Investment SA, is currently attached due to an order from the prosecutors, the Băneasa project is partially blocked, with a direct effect on the profitability of Băneasa Investment SA. The attached asset (the land) can not be used as planned, but the local taxes are still being levied, as if the owner (Băneasa Investment SA) was enjoying the fruits of the ownership. Considering that the situation is unjust and unsustainable, the shareholders of Băneasa Investment SA have decided to act towards resolving it, including by resorting to the European tax regulations, if necessary".

The DNA has attached the properties of Puiu Popoviciu, as part of the criminal investigation in the Băneasa case, to determine how the businessman came to develop the real estate project on a 224 hectare plot of land owned by the state.

The USAMVB did not specify how much of the plot of land has been attached.

Businessman Puiu Popoviciu and the former heads of the General Department of Intelligence and Internal Protection (DGIPI) and of the Operations Division of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DGA), Cornel Şerban and Petru Pitcovici, were indicted for acts of corruption concerning the sale at an undervalued price of a plot of land of 224 hectares which was the property of the USAMVB.

Puiu Popoviciu is being charged with complicity to abuse in office against the public interests, in aggravated and recurrent form, as well as offering bribes, while the former heads of the DGIPI and the DGA have been charged with complicity in offering bribes and connivance. Also indicted were Ioan Niculae Alecu, who was the rector of the University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest - USAMVB (at the time the offences were committed), who has been charged with abuse in office in aggravated and recurrent form, as well as Andrei Mihai Bejenaru, who has been charged with complicity to abuse in office against the public interests, in aggravated and recurrent form.

The individuals indicted in this case include Mihai Ion Florin Luican, a prefect of the city of Bucharest, Ioan Todiraş, deputy mayor of the Mayoralty of District 1 of Bucharest (at the time the offences were committed), who has been charged with abuse in office against the public interests, in qualified and recurrent basis.

In the indictment, the prosecutors mentioned that between 2000 and 2004, Alecu Ioan Niculae, with the help of Popoviciu (Puiu) Gabriel Aurel who had a direct interest in the matter, based on a contract which was concluded in violation of the law, allowed for a 224 hectares plot of land which belonged to the public domain of the state, to be brought as a contribution in kind to the share capital of SC Băneasa Investments SA, a company controlled by Popoviciu Gabriel Aurel.

As the plot of land in question (the Băneasa farm) was part of the public property of the state, according to the law, it was prohibited from being the object of any transaction and furthermore, it was sold at a clearly undervalued price, according to the prosecutors. At the time it was incorporated into the share capital of SC Băneasa Investments SA, the plot of land was valued at 1 USD/sqm, whereas the market value at the time was approximately 150 Euros/sqm. The plot of land is located in the northern area of Bucharest, is located near the DN1 Bucureşti-Ploieşti highway, and several major companies built their headquarters or branches on it, according to the indictment.

According to the contract, the lands of the Băneasa farm were supposed to be used for activities of fruit-growing, viticulture, and stockbreeding. Without having received the approval of the members of the Office of the Senate and of the Senate of the USAMV of Bucharest, Alecu Ioan Niculae and Popoviciu Gabriel Aurel decided on the size of the stakes in the partnership, specifically 49% for the University of Agricultural Sciences and 51% for SC Log Trans SA (which was later renamed to Băneasa Investment SA). An evaluation of the plots of land with a total surface of 224 hectares and of the pertaining buildings which would be contributed to the partnership had not been performed at the time the creation of the partnership was decided. Therefore, the University accepting the size of its stake being set 49% in the partnership was illegal. Furthermore, the 51% contribution in cash of the other party was only formal, as the amounts only transited through the accounts of the company, the prosecutors further said.

As a result of the release of the deed of ownership of the plot of land of 224 hectares, the state has incurred a loss of 335,387,260 lei. The losses caused to USAMV Bucureşti amount to 619,472,218 lei and consist of the value of the plots of land contributed to the share capital of SC Băneasa Investments S.A. which were undervalued and through the withdrawal from the company of the amounts which had been contributed to the share capital, thus depriving the company of working capital, according to the indictment.

The Ministry of Public Finance has joined the criminal proceedings as a civil party seeking damages on behalf of the Romanian state, requesting the restoration of the right of ownership of the state over the 224 hectares of land. In order to recoup the losses, at the end of 2012 it was decided to attach the immovable assets of Alecu Ioan Niculae, Popoviciu Gabriel Aurel, Diaconescu Ştefan, Bejenaru Andrei Mihai, Toader Gabriel-Răzvan, Minea Lizeta and Petrulian Gheorghe.

The case has been submitted for trial to the Court of Appeal of Bucharest.

• The representatives of the University: "Băneasa Investment has agreed to the preservation of the company's patrimony"

The representatives of the USAMVB have told us that the shareholders of Băneasa Investment SA have currently agreed on a program for the preservation of the patrimony. "This involves the implementation of some measures designed to ensure, in the future, the conditions for a relaunch in order to continue the Băneasa project", they told us.

The shareholders of Băneasa Investment have also recently approved the dissolution of Băneasa Rezidential SRL. According to the University, the reason for this decision was the fact that the company's goal has been achieved. The officials of the USAMVB mentioned that Băneasa Rezidential SRL currently only owns one apartment of the total number of apartments it built, while the rest have been sold. Therefore, for economic reasons, the ongoing operation of Băneasa Rezidential SRL can no longer be justified.

Băneasa Investments and Comnord hold equal shares in Băneasa Rezidential.