The head of the Romanian Tax Administration (ANAF), Sorin Blejnar (in picture) was dismissed yesterday (April 17 ) for lower than required tax collection. Romania's Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu decided to replace Blejnar with Şerban Pop, who was a vice-president with ANAF until 2009.

Blejnar's activity was analyzed in the last two months, when ANAF did not collect enough taxes, according to the Government.

Earlier in February, the Romanian PM asked all ministers and heads of public authorities to combat tax evasion and bring at least 1.5 percent of the country's GDP to the state budget in two months. That would have been the equivalent of some EUR 2 billion, mainly from fighting tax evasion on alcohol and vegetables. However, the dismissed Sorin Blejnar said the target was 'unrealistic'.

Romania plans to reorganize ANAF, restructuring the number of field offices and its IT system, based on evaluations and recommendations from the World Bank. The reorganization, which will have effects over the medium term, is one of the requirements of the EUR 1 billion cautionary loan agreement that Romania will sign with the EBRD this summer. Improvements in procedures will be analyzed and implemented between 2012 and 2015.

EBRD has also analyzed the tax system in neighboring Bulgaria, but the changes in tax administration in Romania will be more profound. “We will work on the IT structure design, see what software and hardware we need, we will analyze the direct responsibilities of the public finances administrations nationwide. We’re not only targeting an increase in tax collection, but a decrease in red tape and the improvement of the relationship between the tax payer and the tax man,” said Romania’s Finance Minister Bogdan Dragoi.

editor@romania-insider.com