THE STEALTHY MEETING WITH THE GIVING IN PAYMENT Iohannis accepts to compromise himself, but not officially

The talks that took place last week, concerning the Law of giving in payment, between the officials of the Presidential Administration and those in the banking system, have attracted major controversies.

Even though BURSA wrote even about two weeks ago that according to market sources, the Presidency would talk to bankers (some of them being foreign shareholders that had come to Romania especially for the meeting in Cotroceni) about the regulations in question, the representatives of the Presidential Administration have denied those talks on several occasions, between the officials of the Presidential Administration and certain bankers, who have presented their opinion on the issue of giving in payment.

Stammering responses on this subject have been given on some TV shows as well, with the last of them being on Sunday, December 6th, when, during the show "Km 0" on DIGI 24, the moderator asked Gabriela Folcuţ, communication advisor with the Romanian Banking Association (ARB), whether she could confirm such a meeting.

She did not confirm, nor deny, the existence of such talks concerning the giving in payment between the RBA bankers and the Presidency, insisting that that type of meetings, "which are currently taking place", should remain "informal".

If the meeting between the banking sector and the representatives of the Presidential Administration had been official, then it would have been mentioned in the media and it would have been discussed by the borrowers, who most likely, would have accused the President of submitting to the representatives of the banks, which are, for the most part, foreign.

In order to avoid that, the talks have remained confidential and thus, the banks' spokespersons and the bankers in general, have ensured the protection of president Klaus Iohannis.

Perhaps the bank officials have agreed not to step forward and confirm outright the meetings in question, in order to avoid compromising their vector of power.

This is probably what caused the confusing wording of Mrs. Gabriela Folcuţ, who is approaching the subject in a general manner, speaking about the talks that are "happening now" on every level, including the ones brought up by the DIGI 24 moderator: "I would prefer we let the informal talks that are currently taking place with every national and international entity have a relatively informal nature, between us and them".

It is obvious that an outright confirmation would have placed the banking system at a disadvantage, but the RBA official was unsuccessful in dodging the question, because the question was direct, and the answer wasn't a definite "no".

In fact, the phenomenon that we are witnessing is the second stage in a process which the President began in the first half of the year, when CHF borrowers (CHF) have asked him to meet with them during which they would have their say on the situation they are going through as borrowers in a currency whose exchange rate has gone through the roof, in January, causing the rise of their instalments and their subsequent inability to make their monthly payments for many of them. The president has directed many of the borrowers towards other entities.

More specifically, on February 9th, the Group of CHF borrowers has asked for a meeting with the president or with another representative of the Presidency. The answer of the Presidential Administration was received on March 11th, with state counselor Gabriel Piscociu advising the petitioners to talk to the Budget Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.

Iohannis's response - "the president of every Romanian", as he liked to call himself during his presidential campaign to become the leader of the "country of a job well done" - was sent precisely from the procetăţean@presidency.ro address.

Later, after several requests sent to the presidential office in order to obtain an audience, one of the debtors finally managed to get a meeting, but not with the president, but with one of the employees of the Department for Citizens' Issues of the Presidential Administration.

Despite the fact that the female presidential advisor in question - who works for a department whose suggests more than anything else that its employees should be acting towards solving the citizens' problems - she seemed polite and nice (as the debtor described her to us), she made a few suggestions to the borrower and asked her some startling questions.

Asking the female CHF borrower whether she couldn't turn to her parents for help and being surprised that on top of having a loan she was pregnant, the employee of the Presidential Administration advised her to ask the government to exempt her from taxes so she could make her monthly loan repayments.

In July last year, the Government approved the Emergency Ordinance nicknamed "Electorata", which stipulates a restructuring of the loans, with the granting of a tax deduction for debtors earning less than 2,200 lei per month. Consumers can ask for the application of this program until the end of 2015, and the tax deduction will be granted for the January 1st, 2016 and December 31st, 2017 period. "Electorata" proved to be a bust, according to our sources from the Parliament, who told us that there have been no applicants for it, as it is no help at all to distressed borrowers.

Thus, with the officials of the Presidential Administration having rejected bank customers, but having met with the representatives of the banks, the talks of the past days, not confirmed officially, are a thorn in the side for Klaus Iohannis and the Presidency, and both would be discredited if the existence of those meetings was known.