Radu Sarbu accuses PDSR

The so-called “pedeserisation”, which means that PDSR members are allegedly appointed to important positions and that former Securitate (the communist secret service) officers are reactivated, are the most frequent accusations that former authorities have been launching against the incumbent officials.

While the first method was justified by PDSR as a procedure deriving from the change of power, the reactivation of the former Securitate officers has not been explained yet.

The former President of the State Ownership Fund (SOF) Radu Sarbu last Friday said in Cluj that more than 30 employees of the Privatisation Authority (APAPS) are former Securitate officers.

He specified that the total number of new employees is 120 and that many of them had been hired before the collective labour contract was changed, causing 200 employees who had been hired over the last 3 years to be dismissed without benefiting from severance payments.

The most notorious case is APAPS State Secretary Victor Marcu, who used to be an active Securitate officer before 1989 and Deputy Chief of SRI (Romanian Secret Services) later on.

“APAPS heads have been busy lately appointing their favourites and this harms the finalisation of the privatisation process. They have monopolised the economy, appointing in the Administration Boards people that have nothing to do with this field,” Radu Sarbu stated.

Government and APAPS representatives declined comments on the former SOF President allegations. Radu Sarbu added that Sidex Galati was controlled by some small “parasite” companies belonging to the former Securitate officers which continued to work with SRI, Foreign Information Department and the Army’s Information Department.

Radu Sarbu was SOF President from September 1998 until last year’s elections. The decision of Radu Vasile, a former Prime Minister, to change Sidex Administration Board, caused the company to get no financing and was the beginning of a long crisis.