Who is, Mihai Busuioc, new head of institution that controls how public money is spent: A close friend of Liviu Dragnea, with hundreds of thousands of euros in his bank accounts

Mihai Busuioc, now secretary general of the Government, was appointed by Parliament on Wednesday as president of the Court of Accounts, the institution that controls how public money is spent in Romania. He replaces Nicolae Vacaroiu, whose 9-year term expires this month.

Mihai Busuioc is a close friend of Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD). Busuioc came to public attention in June, before Sorin Grindeanu was dismissed by the PSD from his position as prime minister. At the time, Busuioc refused to countersign Prime Minister Grindeanu’s order to dispose of his function.

He was Deputy Secretary General at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, in the period when Liviu Dragnea was leading this institution, and occupied the position of general manager of the Real Estate Cadastre Agency on two occasions.

Busuioc owns ten bank accounts amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros and two real estate properties.

Busuioc was appointed general secretary of the Government in January by former PM Sorin Grindeanu, immediately after he was invested as prime minister. Mihai Busuioc’s nomination was the first decision that Grindeanu made as prime minister. In April, Mihai Busuioc was appointed member of the OMV Petrom Supervisory Board being proposed by the Romanian State through the Ministry of Energy.

He was one of the actors who actively participated in the June political crisis that led to the dismissal of the Grindeanu Government. The refusal of Mihai Busuioc to countersign the Prime Minister’s order to release him from office has overturned Grindeanu’s plans to name Victor Ponta in his place.

Eventually, the order came to be published in the Official Gazette and Mihai Busuioc was dismissed. After the censure motion against the Grindeanu Government was voted by Parliament and the new Executive led by Mihai Tudose took over its duties, Mihai Busoic was reinstated as a state secretary general of the Government.