The Finance Ministry controlled by PD-L (Democratic Liberal Party) has brought CEC into the undesirable situation of the NBR rejecting two managers nominated by the shareholder.
The National Bank rejected the nominations of the Finance Ministry, which represents the state as shareholder of CEC Bank, to appoint Andrei Stamatian, son of the Cluj prefect, as vice-president with financial responsibilities, and of Răzvan-Andrei Micu, advisor to finance minister Gheorghe Ialomiţianu, as retail vice-president, say banking sources.
The Finance Ministry will now have to reformulate its nominations: Stamatian, 34, will be nominated as vice-president of the state-held bank, but this time in charge of retail, while Micu will be nominated as non-executive member of the Board of Directors.
Contacted by ZF, representatives of the NBR (National Bank of Romania) did not wish to comment on the matter. Nor did the Finance Ministry give comment by edition close.
Stamatian and Micu were the major changes that the Finance Ministry controlled by PD-L attempted to make in the team of Radu Gheţea, who has been CEC president since 2007. Gheţea had been appointed at the helm of CEC by liberal minister Varujan Vosganian and has constantly had the NBR's endorsement, which has ensured the renewal of his soon-to-expire mandate. In a less common practice for state institutions, where nominations tend to be political, he has had the freedom to choose his collaborators, so he brought Gheorghe Carabasan, a veteran of the banking system to CEC, whom he promoted in 2008 as first vice-president. He also brought Mihaela Lucica Popa as corporate vicepresident in 2007.
However, politics has constantly sought to infiltrate into the management of the biggest state-held bank in one form or another, but at least as far as the president is concerned, the traditions of making changes
