Romanian
Finance Minister Darius Valcov has resigned amid allegations that he took a
massive bribe. The anti-corruption authority suspects Valcov received 2 million
euros from a company to fix a construction contract.
Deutsche Welle, 16 March 2015
Valcov
resigned amid suspicions that he accepted the 2-million-euro ($2.11 million)
bribe as mayor of Slatina, in southern Romania. He quit hours after President
Klaus Iohannis urged the prime minister to fire him, saying the investigation
had affected "the activity and credibility of the government."
"I spoke
with Darius Valcov today at lunch and he handed me his resignation," Prime
Minister Victor Ponta told Romanian TV channel Antena 3.
Prosecutors
have alleged that between 2010 and 2013 Valcov favored a businessman in Slatina
with contracts, in exchange for a 20 percent cut. No immediate comment has come
from Valcov or the Finance Ministry, though he has denied the allegations.
String of
busts
Valcov
previously served as budget minister, a portfolio merged with the Finance
Ministry in a December reshuffle after Ponta lost his presidential bid in a
controversial election last fall.
The prime
minister had initially supported Valcov, but has accepted his resignation.
Ponta has asked Valcov to present the new fiscal code next week and will then
name a successor, the Mediafax news agency reported. In February, Ponta and
Valcov announced plans to cut all major taxes between 2016 and 2019, a move
analysts said could take an unsustainable toll on the budget.
"It is
important for Romania to have this project," Ponta said at the time.
Long
considered one of the European Union's most corrupt states - investigators have
looked into Ponta's father- and brother-in-law - Romania has cracked down in
recent years, putting thousands of public servants on trial and convicting
many, including several high-ranking officials.
The
country's prosecutors and magistrates have won praise from Brussels for
crackdowns that have seen many members of parliament face trial for
graft-related offenses. In January, President Iohannis appeared in court on
prior conflict-of-interest charges.
Those
sentenced to prison for graft include Ponta's political mentor, former prime
minister Adrian Nastase, in two separate cases in 2012 and 2014. However,
Valcov has become the most senior sitting Romanian politician to resign because
of corruption allegations amid the flurry of high-level investigations and
graft trials over the past two years.
Ponta could
face a leadership challenge at the Social Democrats' congress this month, and
right-wing politicians have said they aim to file a no-confidence vote in
parliament this year. The next scheduled parliamentary election is due in late
2016.
mkg/cmk (Reuters, dpa, AP)
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