Romanian PM says he regrets conviction of former minister Fenechiu from a ‘humane point of view’

The Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said he regrets the decision to jail former Minister Relu Fenechiu from a “humane point of view”, but refused to be drawn further into the issue. “I can’t comment. I am sorry from a humane point of view, Mr. Fenechiu was a very good minister,” said Ponta, quoted by the local media. On January 30, the former Transport Minister Relu Fenechiu was sentenced to five years in jail without parole in a case nicknamed “the transformer”. His brother Lucian Fenechiu got a similar sentence. The court case involved the sale of old transformers and switches via his companies to the Electricity Maintenance Subsidiary Moldova, but at high prices. More about the case here. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: gov.ro)