VIOREL ARCAŞ, PSD:  "The procedure for the dismissal of the president of the ASF will continue, most likely in February"

Caught up in the fever of the elections, the MPs put on hold, at the end of last year, the discussion of the report to dismiss the president of the Financial Oversight Authority (ASF) Mişu Negriţoiu, drawn up by four commissions from the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, in October 2016.

It is to be expected however, that the procedure will resume, this year, even though, at the end of last year, it was rumoured that the proposal to dismiss Mişu Negriţoiu never made it into the plenum, as it was blocked by Senate chairman Călin Popescu Tăriceanu.

"The report (ed. note: concerning the dismissal of Mişu Negriţoiu) is done, the procedure will probably continue in February, upon the reunion of the plenum", said Viorel Arcaş, PSD senator and president of the Budget, Finance, Banking Activity and Stock Market Commission of the Senate. He further said: "We are waiting to begin the normal parliamentary session, because for now we have handled organizational issues, like the appointment of the government".

Also, PSD deputy Mihai Tudose, the president of the Economic Policy, Reform and Private Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, told us that the report intended to dismiss the president of the ASF has been submitted to the Permanent Bureau and that he will need to make a decision. Mihai Tudose was one of the most vehement critics of Mişu Negriţoiu, at the end of last year.

When asked, at the time, what his criticisms of the president of the ASF were, Mihai Tudose replied: "Good god! I would ask «What is there to praise him for»? And I would answer «nothing ». He mentions a large number of reports drawn up by God-knows-who, that no one has ever seen. What I am criticizing him for is a lack of interaction with the real market, a lack of decision. We have information that, in the case of the two insurance companies that went bankrupt (ed. note: Astra and Carpatica) some controversial decisions have been made and he, given his executive position, has not done his job. There have been decisions of the Board of the ASF, and he simply did not implement them".

Now, Mihai Tudose says that the procedure in question is out of his hands. He told us: "Yes, I was vocal, but unfortunately, the man in question (ed. note: Mişu Negriţoiu) has benefited from the fact that the elections came along".

PSD president Liviu Dragnea was saying, before the elections, that he expected a resignation from Mişu Negriţoiu, after December 11th, 2016, according to the press.

During his hearings in the Parliament, however, Mişu Negriţoiu has repeatedly stated that he had no intention to resign, as he felt he had nothing wrong. In November 2016, the president of the ASF said he would await to be dismissed, through a parliamentary procedure.

For now, Mişu Negriţoiu has kept his seat at the top of the ASF, despite the opposition of some MPs and of protests from freight companies, amid the scandal tied to the RCA rates. On the other hand, the vice-president of the ASF in charge of insurance, Marius Vorniceanu handed in his resignation, in September 2016 and he went back to his old job - at the Court of Auditors.