THE BLUFF AT OLTCHIM Dan Diaconescu, in a SRI-type operation, but without the SRI

Dan Diaconescu hasn't fled the country, instead he is in Spain, to get money from his Russian investor, according to our Israeli correspondent, who has tight connections in Madrid, which means that Victor Ponta was probably too quick to say that Dan Diaconescu did not have the money, because even though he bluffed when he got involved in with the privatization of Oltchim, he still has some small chances to obtain the necessary funds, within a week, which is how much time he still has left to sign the contract.

Our sources claim that Munich was just a stop for Dan Diaconescu, who at the time of boarding his plane, didn't know whether his final destination would be Moscow, Barcelona or Madrid, but at the present time, he has got off the plane in Spain.

Once there, he would supposedly meet several officials of several Russian firms, which are apparently interested in providing the money he needs to pay for the shares owned by the Romanian state (through the OPSPI) in Oltchim S.A. Râmnicu Valcea, a meeting intermediated by Eugen Anca (made famous by the prank of recovering the Romanian treasury from the Russians and his involvement in the affair of Germany's debt towards Romania. He is a man who a lot of people pretend is a who many people pretend he is a crook, while others claim he is just a fool who is being used by the Russian secret services to test Bucharest's willingness to negotiate) and the lesser known Alexandru Dolghin, who claims that he represents the interests of TISE, a subsidiary of Gazprom.

Our sources claim that Dan Diaconescu was promised that he would get the money he needs for Oltchim today, but it is unclear whether that promise will be honored, even though the Russians have laid out for him a much wider program for financing the acquisition of assets or for the privatization of companies in Romania's energy sector, a plan which is part of the statements made by Dan Diaconescu concerning Transgaz, Hidroelectrica, Tarom, CFR Călători, CFR Marfă, statements which some consider as phantasmagoric.

Even though it is true that the Russians have expressed their intention to take over Oltchim, (and Constantin Roibu know it), potentially bundled with Arpechim and some of the Thermoelectric Plants (CETs), Dan Diaconescu may become a victim of the "Russian", because there can be no doubts that Moscow would be more interested in compromising the privatization of Oltchim, which would see its shares would drop vertiginously after this scandal, and would then be acquired at a much lower price.

Without the Russians, Dan Diaconescu, is just a leaf in the wind, because, as an example, his company, "Oglinda" press group, which owns OTV (among other things), was declared insolvent, as it is unable to even repay the loan of five million Euros, which it took out from BRD, and which has been rescheduled over a period of eight years.

The entire affair boils down to just two sets of numbers: the first set illustrates the amounts needed for the privatization and the resumption of operations at Oltchim, starting with the 45 millions of Euros which must be paid on the date of the signing of the contract, and continuing with the hundreds of millions needed to resume production and pay off the huge debts towards the state and to the creditor banks; the second set of numbers illustrates the popularity among the voters, which Dan Diaconescu seems to be more interested in than he is in Oltchim, which he turned into a political tool he uses against the "rich", in an attempt to get at least 20% of the votes in the parliamentary elections.

Of course, the quotation marks around the word "rich" - which Dan Diaconescu favors when speaking about the political opponents of his populist political P.P.-D.D. -, are doubly justified: first of all because they are part of the tasteless discourse which Dan Diaconescu uses heavily, and second of all, because "the rich" are deeply involved in the entire Oltchim affair.

According to our sources, the offer of D.D. in the privatization of Oltchim was drafted by Liviu Neagu, former offices of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), related to the PSD leader for the county of Teleorman Liviu Gragnea. Neagu was excluded from the SRI precisely because of his political ties.

Today, he is in the top echelon of P.P.-D.D.

It is alleged that Dan Diaconescu negotiated the return of Constantin Roibu to the position of CEO of Oltchim, if Dan Diaconescu succeeded in acquiring the plant, banking on the fact that Roibu will vouch for the "reliability" and "good intentions" of "investor" Dan Diaconescu.

Dan Diaconescu seems accustomed to playing both ends, and winning in both cases, like corrupt media is bound to do: if he gets the money, then he will get political good will, by being the "savior", the rebel acting on behalf of the people, meaning that we will get to see one fifth of the seats in the Parliament being occupied by the members of a party founded by a tabloid journalist, however, if the Russians leave him empty handed (most likely), then Dan Diaconescu gets the excuse to play the victim (thus still being able to capitalize on the situation, especially if he gets investigated, arrested etc.).

Of course, this will destroy the image and the credibility of the Oltchim, as well as that of the Romanian government - which is what the Russians were looking after, so they can later buy Oltchim at a much lower price.

In both cases, Dan Diaconescu wins, and Romania loses.

But...who or what is "Romania"?

Do we still know?