Deputy Prime Minister Dragoș Anastasiu resigned just five weeks after his appointment to lead Romania’s tax reform efforts, engulfed by revelations that companies he owned paid €150,000 in bribes to a tax inspector he was tasked with overseeing.
The scandal centres on fictitious consulting contracts used to funnel monthly payments of approximately €2,000 between 2009 and 2017 to National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) inspector Georgeta Angela Burlacu, who was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in 2023 for corruption.
At a Sunday press conference announcing his resignation, Anastasiu admitted to authorising the payments but framed them as compelled by systemic state coercion:
“It was a survival bribe […] not a bribe for enrichment,” Anastasiu said.
He described an era when Romanian officials allegedly pressured and blackmailed companies, creating an environment where refusal risked criminal prosecution or bankruptcy. His companies faced penalties after ANAF uncovered payroll tax irregularities during a 2009 audit.
Despite his defence, Bucharest Court of Appeal documents characterised the payments as “masked bribes,” noting Anastasiu continued authorising them even after recognising their illegality. The court dismissed claims of legitimate consultancy services as “ridiculous.” Though never charged, having reported the corruption via a business partner, Anastasiu acknowledged his role as a witness who “gave statements regarding the facts.”
The resignation deals a significant blow to Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s month-old coalition government, which faces mounting pressure to reduce the EU’s largest budget deficit and implement austerity measures. Anastasiu was spearheading reforms of inefficient state-owned enterprises, which consume RON 15 billion (€2.96 billion) annually in public subsidies.
Anastasiu urged Bolojan to personally oversee the seven-pillar reform package he initiated, covering tax fraud prevention, digitalisation, and administrative restructuring.
“We have taken important steps,” he insisted, warning that without change, “each citizen supports [subsidies] out of their own pocket.”
With S&P recently affirming Romania’s BBB- rating amid negative outlook, the government’s ability to advance reforms without its tax chief now faces critical scrutiny.
