Romanian deputy prime minister Dragos Anastasiu resigned on Sunday after an old corruption scandal resurfaced at a moment when the coalition government is slashing costs to reduce the budget deficit.
Mr. Anastasiu, who entered politics from the private sector had been tasked by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan with overseeing the reform of state-owned companies, part of an effort to shrink the largest budget deficit in the European Union and cut down on waste and inefficiency.
But last week, a corruption case revealed that one of Anastasiu’s firms had been blackmailed by a tax authority inspector into paying bribes disguised as consultancy fees for eight years from 2009 in order to avoid lengthy inspections from tax officials.
The company later denounced the inspector, who was convicted in 2023. Anastasiu and his business partner were never charged.
Anastasiu stressed that his company had paid all its taxes and the bribes were “for survival, not profit”.
“I encourage every entrepreneur to speak out and say under what conditions business has been done in Romania and no longer accept what we did while making mistakes,” he said at a press conference.
The government will hike some taxes starting next month and is cutting jobs in the state sector redundant and slashing bonuses. Hundreds have staged street protests but it managed to avoid a ratings downgrade to junk.
The European Union and NATO state has endured months of political instability after a presidential election was cancelled in December, over claims of Russian interference, and re-run in May. Borrowing costs have grown and the national currency has devalued.
