State-owned companies reform - on new foundations, but with the same networks of influence

The appointment of Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacşu, at the end of last week, to the inter-ministerial working group for the reform of state-owned companies raises serious questions regarding the objectives publicly assumed by this structure. Although the Government's initiative aims, at least at a declarative level, to increase transparency, professionalize leadership and depoliticize management in public enterprises, the inclusion of a person who was directly involved in the mechanisms contested on precisely these issues seems, at best, contradictory.

The Transelectrica SA case is perhaps the most eloquent. Several publications - including the newspaper BURSA, Economedia and Europa Liberă - have published a series of articles in the past year regarding suspicions related to the knowingly vitiating, by political decision-makers, of the company's management selection process. The firm that carried out the recruitment, Pluri Consultants, is considered close to Marian Neacşu, and the nomination committee was headed by Alexandru-Cristian Vasilescu, the deputy prime minister's godson.

At the same time, one of the selected candidates, Victor Moraru, former interim vice president of AMEPIP, ended up in the Transelectrica Directorate following the selection process, although there were already signals regarding a potential conflict of interest. According to press reports, Moraru was allegedly part of the teams that contributed to the selection of future members of the Directorate, a position for which he later also applied.

Previously, however, in the appointment process to AMEPIP, an essential institution for monitoring corporate governance, Marian Neacşu was accused in the media of having coordinated a series of political appointments, without competition, directly criticized by the European Commission for lack of transparency and non-alignment with the good practices assumed through the PNRR. Whistleblowers from the General Secretariat of the Government have also reported that these appointments took place without respecting the procedures and without a real competition, and some of the promoted individuals would have already held key positions in the implementation of European funds and the PNRR. For this reason, Moraru was forced to leave AMEPIP and run for a director position at Transelectrica. Where the selection was made by the same company.

In this context, legitimate questions arise regarding the opportunity and credibility of Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacşu's participation in a group that aims to reform a system in which he himself was a major player. It is difficult to support the idea of a deep and impartial reform, when one of its coordinators is associated with exactly those practices that the reform should correct.

Without questioning the deputy prime minister's administrative skills or his political experience, it remains to be clarified to what extent his presence in this structure contributes to the objective of regaining the trust of the public and international partners in the way state-owned companies are managed. Given that Romania has clear commitments assumed through the PNRR and before the European Commission regarding the professionalization of the management of public enterprises, the composition of this working group takes on more than symbolic importance. Transparency and integrity cannot only be declared objectives, but must also be found in the selection of those who are called upon to apply them.