All public sector officials are required to send their financial statements to this institution.
Ionut Costea, president of Eximbank, has the highest salary in the public sector: 1.2 million lei in 2009 or EUR285,000 (the statement only covers a ten-month period). This would amount to a monthly income of RON120,000 (around EUR28,000) per month.
Costea was appointed at Eximbank during the 2009 rule of PDL-PSD (Democratic Liberal Party – Social Democratic Party), and is brother-in-law of PSD leader Mircea Geoana, the Senate chairman.
Although PSD left the ruling coalition in the autumn of 2009 and is the most vocal critic of President Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Boc and the current government, Costea has not been replaced, because he would have to be paid nearly EUR800,000 when he leaves.
An Eximbank vicepresident, Paul Ichim, who came to Eximbank at the same time as Costea did, earned RON705,631 (around EUR167,000 per year, i.e. EUR16,700/month, considering that the statement only covers ten months).
The president of CEC Bank, Radu Gratian Ghetea, earned a net salary of RON361,897 (around EUR86,000 per year, i.e. EUR7,160 per month).
The salary difference between Eximbank and CEC Bank is in contrast with the banks’ financial performance, considering that CEC ranks fourth in the banking system by assets, while Eximbank is somewhere in the middle of the ranking, at no. 20.
An explanation could be that the shareholders are different –
privatization authority AVAS in the case of Eximbank, and the
Finance Ministry for CEC.
In sharp contrast, the Romanian head of state and prime minister
earn EUR1,600 per month, and EUR1,200 per month respectively.
The heads of state-held banks have always shied away from saying
how much they earn for their job, saying the contracts they signed
with shareholders, i.e. state institutions, are confidential.
The National Bank in turn refuses to make its salaries public, citing its “independence”.
For a few minutes, the annual income of central bank governor
Mugur Isarescu appeared on the website of the National Integrity
Agency “www.integritate.eu.” But the figure was then deleted,
citing “European provisions”. The governor’s leaked salary could be
much higher than the EUR7,000 it was originally believed to
be.
In the banking system, the net salaries of heads of private banks
range between EUR10,000 and EUR30,000, bonuses aside.
Ionut Costea of Eximbank earns similar amounts to a top private banker, despite Eximbank not boasting the same results as far assets or profit are concerned.
(EUR1=RON4.216)