Romanian environment minister appoints disputed figures to Romsilva board citing prior procedure

Romania’s minister of environment Diana Buzoianu appointed two controversial members to the board of directors of Romsilva, the state forestry management company, on August 7, despite public concerns over their integrity, G4media.ro reported.

The appointments of Mugur Cozmanciuc and Speranța Georgeta Ionescu drew criticism due to their past associations with corruption cases. Minister Buzoianu, a member of the Save Romania Union (USR), stated that the selection procedure had begun before her term and that she was bound by the outcome. “There was nothing I could do to prevent the appointments,” she said.

Mugur Cozmanciuc, a former deputy backed by the National Liberal Party (PNL), is known for his political ties to Relu Fenechiu, the former PNL leader in Iași who was convicted of corruption. Cozmanciuc also reportedly managed a nightclub owned by Fenechiu during the 1990s.

In 2019, prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) accused Cozmanciuc of soliciting RON 500,000 (EUR 108,000) to influence then-Minister of Environment Costel Alexe to appoint an associate of businessman Sorin Emanoil Ciufudean as general director of the National Administration “Romanian Waters.” He was later acquitted by the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

The second appointee, Speranța Georgeta Ionescu, formerly served as economic director at the Ministry of Environment during the tenure of UDMR official László Borbély. In 2021, she was cleared in a corruption investigation after the court excluded evidence gathered with assistance from intelligence services, rendering the case inadmissible.

The appointments have raised fresh concerns over governance and transparency at Romsilva, a company that manages over half of Romania’s forests and has frequently been the focus of public scrutiny for alleged irregularities in forest management.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)