Romanian investigation journalists look into the President’s real estate business

Rise Project, a group of independent investigation journalists, recently published two articles about President Klaus Iohannis’ real estate investments. One of the articles looks into how the former Sibiu mayor got to own six real estate properties, which make the bulk of his fortune, and the other one analyzes the revenues Iohannis made from leasing some of those properties. According to the first article, Iohannis got to own his most valuable asset, a commercial space in the center of Sibiu, following a controversial retrocession process for which he and his wife were investigated some ten years ago. According to Rise Project, the retrocession was based on false documents. However, Iohannis was never indicted in this case. The article also pointed out that the President’s family made over EUR 300,000 in the last 14 years from leasing the commercial space to a local bank and that the money was reinvested into three other properties. “The evolution of this judicial affair offers the answer on how Romania’s President got to own six real estate properties in Sibiu,” according to the Rise Project journalists. The second article by Rise Project claims that Iohannis declared lower revenues than he actually made from leasing his real estate properties in his wealth statements while he was mayor of Sibiu. The Presidency reacted yesterday saying that the President declared all his revenues correctly and paid taxes for them, and that the allegations in the Rise Project article were speculations. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis launches sequel to his best-selling book Who is Klaus Iohannis, Romania’s new president? editor@romania-insider.com