A part of the state and public universities in Romania, accredited by the Ministry of Education, avoid making public their financial activities for 2008, either on their own website or on the portal of the Ministry of Finances.
The great unknown
In Romania, there are 56 state universities, 28 accredited private institutions of higher learning, 21 universities with temporary accreditation and 5 institutions pending for accreditation.
No institution of higher learning has published the financial statement on the website of the Ministry of Finance, while 7 out of 28 accredited universities/private institutions have omitted to do so.
From this perspective, universities, whether subsidized by the government or not, are still within the legal limits, as the law doesn’t require them to make public their financial statements on the website of the Ministry of Finance.
“Private or state-subsidized universities are exempt from financial reporting rules by the fiscal regulation in force, since these institution don’t have the statute of commercial companies”, said Daniel Tomoni, head of customer service at the Ministry of Education.
However, universities still have to make public their financial activities on their own website.
“As far as I know, what we need to do is submit our annual report to the Ministry of Education as well as post it on our website”, said Gheorghe Rosca (photo) provost of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE).
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (also known by its acronym ASE) is one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in Romania. It recorded revenues of €69.5 million and expenses of €68.5 million last year, according to financial data posted on its own website.
Also, under the provisions of Law No. 544/2001 regarding the free access to public-interest information, unive
