What the newspapers say: February 1, 2011

President Basescu urged the governing party to fight with the opposition in the media and complained that members of the party have a real problem with corruption. New information in the case of Constantin Nicolescu, Arges County Council recently arrested links his business with a company that appeared in files of former PM Adrian Nastase. Last but not least, another newspaper wonders about the real value of the shares of the Proprietatea Fund.

President Basescu urged PDL Parliamentarians to counter the opposition’s attacks in the media and complains that since it governs, the party has a problem with corruption, Gandul reads in its Tuesday edition. Basescu urge the party to introduce, at the next congress, integrity criteria for new members wishing to join and implement them in “five days”.

General Secretary Blaga attempted to contradict the President, but he was silenced fast, sources declared for the newspaper. Basescu referred to the files of PDL parliamentarians that are blocked in the parliament, namely that of Monica Iacob Ridzi and Dan Pasat.

Basescu urged Pasat, present at the meeting to do his country a favor and demand to be judged by a court of law.

The new information, in the case involving PSD Arges County Council, Constantin Nicolescu, link some of his businesses to a company that also appears in the files against former PSD PM, Adrian Nastase, Evenimentul Zilei reads. As the Arges judges released their motivations which lead to the decision to arrest Nicolescu, the name of a company, ZEUS SA sprangs up for receiving most of the contracts on public money.

Plus, the same company was also a financial contributor to the PSD electoral campaigns in 2004 and 2008. The same company appears in the files against ex PM Adrian Nastase, who was indicted for corruption. The company received funds worth 1 million euro based on false documentation. His owner, Gheorghe Dobre was also heard by anti-graft prosecutors.

All contracts date from 2006- 2008 and the company cashed money for works which it did and for those it did not. The same company is in contractual and judicial relations with the Nicolescu family.

People have been waiting for the decision to list the Proprietatea Fund at the stock exchange for five years, in the hope that they will receive, for their revenues confiscated in the 50s, a value close to the real worth their lost goods were evaluated Romania libera reads.

However, even though the Fund was listed a week ago, the shares did not get close to their real value and do not seem to give any signs of increase. The value of the shares is held down also because only two companies of the first ten to make the net active of the Fund are listed, OMV Petrom and Transgaz.

Experts claim that the difference between the value of the shares and their worth on the stock exchange market is explained by the state of the economy and by other problems held by the companies within the Fund’s portfolio.