The most important port on the Black Sea shore is run by a Board of Directors made entirely out of provisional members, with no training or experience in the field, all politically appointed and supported by the PSD or PNL. The director of the Port of Constanța himself has zero training in the maritime field, he came to the position from Roads and Bridges Constanța, he used to be a businessman and is an accountant by profession.
All directors are appointed by the director general, who is himself politically backed and de facto elected by the minister in charge, as G4Media and Info Sud-Est sources in the Port of Constanta explained.
G4Media and Info Sud-Est looked at their most recent declarations of assets, interests and political connections. The board of directors that manages and decides the fate of the Port of Constanta include:
- A former university classmate of Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu. Major: Agriculture and computer science;
- The economic director of the PSD under Viorica Dăncilă and Marcel Ciolacu, close to Liviu Dragnea’s former Transport Minister Felix Stroe. Specialisation: Accounting;
- A secretary of state from the time of Prime Minister Florin Cîțu and advisor to Nicolae Ciucă, who landed in the Port of Constanța riding the wave of the governmental rotation. Specialisation: Law;
- A former MP and head of PD in the political heyday of Traian Băsescu and Elena Udrea. Specialisation: Agriculture and economics;
- An anonymous accountant, married to a former adviser to the Chamber of Deputies. Specialisation: Accounting;
- The sixth member of the Board of Directors is the son of a former chief of the Constanța police, the only one to have a bachelor’s degree in the field, but with one year worth of professional experience.
An economist by trade with a law degree, Florin Vizan, the general manager of the Port of Constanta, was appointed by the Port’s Board of Directors in August 2022, with support from the PSD, and has no experience in the maritime field.
- The Board of Directors is organising a competition to select the director-general for a 4-year term. De jure, it is the BoD that determines who wins the competition, but de facto the port director is not appointed without the consent and support of the Transport Minister, sources familiar with the procedures explained to G4Media and Info Sud-Est.
He came to the Port of Constanta from the position of head of the Constanța Roads and Bridges directorate and, over the years, has served on the boards of Petromin and Oil Terminal. He began his career as an accountant at the County Union of Consumer Cooperatives, of which he later became commercial director. He has been a director in several companies, unrelated to the maritime sector.
According to his most recent declaration of assets, filed in June 2023, Florin Vizan owns a plot of land of 1,154 square meters in the resort of Neptun (2001), three plots of land in the locality of Corbu in Constanța, acquired in 2015, with a total area of 10 hectares and a plot of land in the municipality of Constanța of 9,000 square meters (2006). Vizan also owns two commercial premises, in Brașov (2007) and Neptun (2009), a Kymco 50 scooter, three men’s watches worth €18,000 and three women’s watches worth €20,000, as well as jewellery worth €20,000.
He has approximately €900,000 in his accounts. He owns shares in several companies and has a loan of 340,000 lei to receive from an individual, as well as loans to recover of over 1 million euro from several companies. In the declaration of interests filed in June 2022, Vizan is listed as a shareholder in 10 companies.
Who manages the Port of Constanta, provisionally and without training in the field
- Adrian Daniel Găvruța, the former university classmate of the Minister of Transport, heads the Port’s Board of Directors with zero experience in the field
Adrian Daniel Găvruța is the former university classmate of Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu, chairman of the Board of Directors and provisional member of this forum from the 14th of April 2022. Găvruța owns two plots of land in Timiș and Caraș-Severin counties, of 1600 sq m (2002) and 1000 sq m (2017) respectively, three cars (1994, 1999, 2002), a motorcycle (1994) and a motorbike (2016). Găvruța also has three bank deposits open in 2022, worth a total of 23,000 euros, money that does not appear in his previous declaration of assets, from 2022.
Găvruță declared in June 2023 a total annual income of around €57,000, obtained from several positions held concurrently: deputy secretary general in the Ministry of Transport, professor at the University of Life Sciences in Timișoara, professor at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest, member of a Ministry of Research project, member of the National Library Commission (Ministry of Culture), president of the CFR Telecommunications Board and president of the APMC Board (Port of Constanța). Read his declaration of assets here
According to his CV, Găvruță graduated in computer science and economics at bachelor’s level and in agricultural management at master’s and doctoral level, then took specialisation courses in mathematics, tax administration, agricultural consultancy, public communication, foreign affairs, human resources, internal affairs, civil servants, foreign policy and diplomacy. Găvruță has no course, specialisation or experience in the maritime, naval or port sector and, despite zero experience, was appointed by Minister Sorin Grindeanu directly to the position of chairman of the Board of Directors of the Port of Constanta. Găvruță and Grindeanu were colleagues at the Faculty of Mathematics, specialising in Computer Science, from 1992 to 1997.
- Mihnea-Claudiu Drumea, former advisor to Nicolae Ciucă, recovered in the Port of Constanța at the government rotary
Mihnea Claudiu Drumea is the latest provisionally appointed member of the Board of Directors of the Port of Constanța, as of the 29th of May 2023, landed in the position in the Port with the governmental rotary. He was appointed provisional administrator of CN APMC. He has been an advisor to former Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă since March 2022, just after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Drumea was also an advisor to Ciucă on issues related to the war in Ukraine, relations with the Republic of Moldova and refugee aid convoys.
Drumea is a member of the Constanța PNL and a professor at the Spiru Haret University (private), specialising in labour and social security law, and, before becoming Ciucă’s advisor, was appointed by former prime minister Florin Cîțu as secretary of state in the Ministry of Labour.
According to his assets statement, Mihnea Drumea has a 100 sqm apartment in Constanța (2002), two cars (2001, 2013) and bank deposits of around €46,000. He also has a bank loan of 95,000 contracted in 2022 and due in 2032. Last year he received 19,400 lei in income from the Ministry of Labour, 5,000 lei from the U.M. Mircea cel Bătrân” Naval Academy and 113,149 lei from the “Spiru Haret” University of Bucharest and 96,917 lei from the Government General Secretary. The declaration of assets, here.
According to his CV, he graduated in Law at “Spiru Haret” and has a degree in river ship management and operation, then became a doctor in Law at “Babeș Bolyai” University. He has taught naval law, international maritime law and international humanitarian law as an associate professor at the Naval Academy “Mircea cel Bătrân” in Constanta. CV, here.
- Elena Vlad, close to the head of PSD Constanța and economic director of PSD led by Dăncilă and Ciolacu
Elena Vlad is a close associate of the head of PSD Constanta, Felix Stroe, former Minister of Transport (2017-2018), and was economic director of PSD from the time it was led by Viorica Dăncilă until this year. Joining the Port’s Board of Directors on the 4th of April 2023, Elena Vlad has experience only in the legal and accounting fields and no experience or studies in the maritime, naval or port fields.
She has served on the boards of several local companies run by PSD members, headed the board of directors of Tarom Air Transport and was a member of the board of directors of SN “Mihail Kogălniceanu” International Airport, and was economic advisor to former Minister Stroe. Full CV, here.
According to her wealth statement of June 2023, Elena Vlad has an 81 sqm apartment in Bucharest (2021), a car (2015), watches and jewellery bought between 1997-2022 worth €50,000 and seven bank deposits of around €100,000.
In the last year he had an employment contract with the PSD from where he received income of 186,206 lei, from the water company RAJA Constanța 84,425 lei, and from work as an accountant almost 58,000 lei.
- Constantin Chirilă, former head of PDL under Traian Băsescu, chartered accountant with zero maritime training
Constantin Chirilă was a member of parliament and head of the Constanța PDL during the political heyday of Traian Băsescu and Elena Udrea, a close friend of theirs at the time. A chartered accountant by profession, Chirilă served on the parliamentary committees on agriculture, irrigation and technology. He attended the Romanian Diplomatic Institute in international relations and the “Carol I” National Defence College and has published articles and books on agriculture, agricultural management and the situation of cereals in Romania and the world. Chirilă has zero training or experience in the maritime field. Full CV here.
However, Constantin Chirilă is also a provisional member of the Board of Directors of the Port of Constanța since the 27th of January 2020. Chirilă owns a 153 sqm house (1996) and a 48 sqm apartment (2000) in Constanța, two agricultural lands in Iași county (2008) with a total area of 5400 sqm and a 1.4 hectare forest land in Dâmbovița county (2008).
He has bank deposits open since 2020, totalling over 300,000 euros, and his income in the last year was as follows: almost 16,000 euro as CEO and administrator in two companies, almost 83,000 lei from his allowance as a member of the Board of Directors of the Port of Constanta, almost 180,000 lei as President of the RAJA Constanta water company, about 10,700 lei as a member of the Board of Directors of the Romanian Naval Authority and almost 63,000 euros from dividends from two companies. Wealth statement, here.
- Dan Alexandru Catană, son of a former Constanta police chief, but 47,000 euros at his wedding, without a 2023 wealth declaration
Dan Alexandru Catană is the vice-president of the Port’s Board of Directors and still a provisional member of the forum, starting the 22nd of January 2022. Until the end of June his wealth declaration was not available on the National Integrity Agency website, but according to his most recent declaration, from 2022, Catană owns a 70 sqm apartment in Bucharest (2016), a car (2011), bank deposits of about €20,000 (2019) and earned together with his wife €47,000 from their wedding in Izvorani. They both work at the Romanian Naval Authority and the wife owns the company SC WWX Unlimited Dent SRL, which is active in the medical field.
According to his CV, Dan Alexandru Catană graduated from the “Mircea cel Bătrân” Naval Academy, specialising in Navigation and Maritime Transport, a master’s degree from the Police Academy, and was chief captain at Giurgiu and head of the Navigation Safety Office at the ANR during Dan Șova’s time at the head of the Ministry of Transport. Catană is the son of former head of the Constanța County Police Inspectorate Dumitru Catană.
- Cătălin Diaconu, the anonymous accountant
Little information is available about Cătălin Diaconu. He is an accountant by profession and, according to his CV, has specialised in accounting and management information systems, has no education, training or experience in the maritime, naval or port sector, but became a provisional member of the APMC Board on 16 April 2022. He is also a member of the National Airports Company Bucharest SA Ilfov and a shareholder in 9 companies including Medlife, BRD, Transgaz, Romgaz, Purcari etc. Declaration of interests, here. Diaconu is married to Ana Diaconu, a former adviser to the Chamber of Deputies, according to local media, and has a 70 sqm apartment (2018), a car (2020), bank deposits totalling 415,000 lei and 37,000 euros. Wealth declaration, here.
- How the Port of Constanța is run
The Port of Constanța is managed by a Board of Directors (BoD), currently made up of six members, all provisional at the moment, mostly supported by the PSD. The members are elected by the General Assembly of Shareholders (AGA), made up of two representatives of the Ministry of Transport, under which the port operates, and one representative of the Property Fund. The AGM is the Port’s governing body which decides on the Port’s economic activity and policy. The Port’s executive is made up of 10 directors of the institution, including the General Manager, his deputy, the Executive Director and the heads of the Finance, Strategy-Development, Legal, Commercial, Technical, Port Operations and Branches departments.
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