The stakes of Danielescu’s appointment at the helm of ANRP are huge: the authority’s reputation has been significantly tarnished after Remus Baciu, former vice-president, was sued for influence peddling and a rising number of former owners are complaining about serious irregularities in the way compensation claims are dealt with.
Moreover, the government has just 827 million Fondul Proprietatea shares left and the authority is the institution deciding who and when gets these shares as compensation for properties seized during the communist regime.
Whereas the former three presidents since the property restitution authority was set up in 2005 had been politically-appointed, this time the appointment of Dorina Danielescu, experienced in criminal investigation, is conveying a totally different message to the public and the over 60,000 former owners, lawyers say.
“The prime minister’s message conveyed through this appointment can be that a prosecutor has come to make order at ANRP. On the other hand, considering the appointment was made discreetly, this may be just a PR move as the government has very few shares left in Fondul Proprietatea,” said Iulian Lepa, a lawyer specializing in compensations and a shareholder in the fund.
Dorina Danielescu’s term at the helm of the authority will not be an easy one: there are tens of thousands of unresolved compensation claims, accusations of irregularities in granting compensations abound and there are no guidelines about what will happen after the government exhausts its shares in the fund.
Furthermore, the team processing claims has only 150 employees, while the number of claims is around 60,000. At the same time, another 800,000 applications are waiting at city halls, out of which around 172,000 have been accepted.
Iulian Lepa believes the new head of the property restitution authority should start by checking compensation files.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)