Former Romanian Economy Minister sentenced to four years in prison

The High Court of Cassation and Justice has sentenced the former Economy Minister Codrut Seres to four years in prison, no parole, in a case related to state-owned electricity producer Hidroelectrica. The decision is final. The prosecutors sent Codrut Seres and other former managers of Hidroelectrica to court in September 2011. The former Hidroelectrica general manager Eugen Pena was sentenced to seven years in prison for setting up an organized criminal group together with the other defendants, causing a significant damage to the company and the state budget. With Pena at the helm, Hidroelectrica closed several electricity supply contracts in unfavorable terms, which caused losses of about USD 165 million, according to the anticorruption prosecutors. Codrut Seres supported Hidroelectrica’s management and its bad decision while he was Economy Minister. The former minister is already in prison. He was convicted in January 2015 to four years and eight months in a case of espionage and rigged strategic privatizations. editor@romania-insider.com