Romanian deputy PM resigns after bribery case resurfaces
Anastasiu had been tasked by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan with overseeing the reform of state-owned companies, part of broader efforts to reduce the largest budget deficit in the European Union and root out waste and inefficiency.
Last week, an old 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 or risk lengthy inspections.
The company later denounced the inspector, who was convicted in 2023. Anastasiu and his business partner were never charged with a crime.
Anastasiu said 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 told reporters on Sunday.
The government, which will hike several taxes from August and is laying off staff and cutting bonuses, has already faced several street protests but has narrowly avoided a ratings downgrade from the lowest rung of investment grade.
The European Union and NATO state has been rocked by political instability in the wake of a presidential election, which was cancelled in December and re-run in May, with market turmoil boosting borrowing costs and crashing the leu currency.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; editing by Giles Elgood)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Climate issues and gender in focus for World Bank in aid-reliant Pacific Islands
THE PACIFIC (Reuters): The World Bank has maintained its focus on climate change and gender equality issues in the Pacific, managing director of operations Anna Bjerde said on a visit to Australia, even as its largest shareholder the United States reduces aid in those areas. After meeting Pacific Islands economic ministers in Fiji, Bjerde said countries in the region continued to worry about being exposed to the accelerating effects of climate change, and had grave concerns about food security and rising debt levels. Six Pacific Island countries are at high risk of debt distress, the bank says. The World Bank is moving a regional vice president from Washington to Singapore, and will move directors from Australia to Fiji and Papua New Guinea, to be closer to a $3.4 billion Pacific aid programme that has grown seven-fold in 10-15 years, she said in an interview on Monday. "We are committed to designing projects that really take into account the vulnerabilities of countries we work in. In this part of the world, countries are vulnerable to the impact of climate change," she said. "We haven't really changed our language around that," she added. Pacific road projects designed to be flood-resilient provide better infrastructure that can withstand the changing climate and also be counted in climate finance programmes, Bjerde said. The World Bank was focussed on boosting women's workforce participation to help lift the region's economic growth, she said, after meeting women leaders in Fiji who highlighted the need for childcare so women can work. On Monday, Bjerde also met officials from the Australian government, the largest bilateral donor to the region. Under reforms introduced last year by its president Ajay Banga, the World Bank has started to roll out region-wide programmes to have a bigger impact among Pacific countries with small populations. Eight countries have joined an arrangement that stops small island states being cut off from the international financial system, while a health programme targeting non-communicable disease will potentially reach 2 million people across the Pacific Ocean and train 16,000 health workers. A trade programme is also being designed to give access to goods faster and more cheaply, she said. Banga will attend the region's annual leaders' meeting, the Pacific Islands Forum, for the first time in September. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry and David Holmes) -- Reuters
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Malaysia's MMC Port lines up cornerstone investors aiming for October IPO
SINGAPORE: MMC Port Holdings aims to finalise its cornerstone investor lineup as early as August, ahead of a planned listing on Bursa Malaysia in October that could raise over US$1.5 billion, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The IPO would be Malaysia's biggest since IHH Healthcare's US$2.1 billion debut in 2012, and Southeast Asia's largest since Indonesian tech firm Bukalapak raised US$1.5 billion in 2021, according to LSEG data. The country's biggest port operator, a wholly owned unit of conglomerate MMC Corp, is in talks with more than 20 potential cornerstone investors, the sources said. Cornerstone investors are typically large institutional funds that commit to buying shares before an IPO opens to the public. A strong lineup is expected to bolster confidence in the offering and lift sentiment in Malaysia's IPO market, which, according to LSEG, raised US$751.2 million in the first half of 2025, up 17.9 per cent from a year earlier. Both domestic and global institutions are involved in the discussions, including BlackRock, UBS Asset Management, Malaysia's largest fund manager Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the country's biggest pension fund, the sources said. The sources declined to be named as the information is private and discussions are ongoing. MMC Port and its parent company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Monday. BlackRock, PNB and EPF also did not immediately respond. UBS declined to comment. Reuters reported in February that MMC Port's IPO could raise more than 6 billion ringgit in the second half of 2025. The company, which operates five ports along the Straits of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, filed a draft prospectus with the Securities Commission Malaysia in late June without specifying the IPO size or timeline. According to the filing, MMC Port posted a 9.2 per cent drop in 2024 net profit to 636.6 million ringgit, despite a nearly 10 per cent rise in revenue to 4.36 billion ringgit. Proceeds from the IPO will go to MMC Corp, which plans to divest up to a 30 per cent stake in its port unit. MMC Port will not receive any funds from the listing. (US$1 = 4.2250 ringgit) (Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Herald Malaysia
2 hours ago
- Herald Malaysia
Pakistan cutting death penalty crimes sparks call for total abolition
Removing two crimes from list linked to keeping special EU trade benefits, observers say Jul 28, 2025 Activists from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) carry placards during a demonstration to mark International Day Against the Death Penalty in Islamabad in this Oct 10, 2015 file photo. (Photo: AFP) By Kamran Chaudhry A decision by Pakistan's Senate to back the abolition of the death penalty for two crimes has sparked calls by Christian activists to end capital punishment for other offenses, including call came after the Senate on July 18 approved the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, which stipulated replacing the death penalty with life sentences and fines for assault and public spoliation of a woman; and aiding the hijacking of an airplane or other public punishes 31 offenses with death sentences including crimes against the state and high treason; military offenses such as mutiny and misconduct in combat; violent crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, and gang rape; kidnapping for ransom; terrorism, sabotage, and say the move to revoke death penalty for two crimes is linked to Pakistan's retention of the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) from the European Union (EU).The GSP+ is a special trade status granted by the European Union that offers tariff-free access to EU markets in exchange for implementing international human rights and labor rights conventions. Cecil Chaudhry, a South Asia team member from the UK-based human rights organization, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, welcomed the revocation of the death sentence for the two crimes as 'a step in the right direction.' A former executive director of the Pakistani Catholic bishop's National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), Chaudhry also urged the government to 'consider abolishing the death penalty for blasphemy.' 'We have witnessed that blasphemy laws are often, if not always, used to settle personal scores and so many citizens, especially religious minorities, are disproportionately affected by false accusations,' he told UCA News. The EU has been pushing Pakistan to improve human rights and labor practices to retain its GSP+ status in EU markets. The EU's Special Representative for Human Rights, Olof Skoog, during a visit to Islamabad in January, highlighted concerns about various issues, including the blasphemy law, women's rights, forced marriages and conversions, enforced disappearances, freedom of expression, religious freedom, media independence, due process, and the death least 34 members of minority groups, including Christians, are on death row in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to Lahore-based lawyer and researcher Sarmad Ali. Peter Jacob, director of the Lahore-based advocacy group Center for Social Justice, said the Senate's move should begin the process for legal reforms and the complete abolition of the death penalty. 'This should open a broader debate on capital punishment and respect for life,' Jacob told UCA News.'A more comprehensive legal reform is needed to limit — and eventually abolish — the death penalty,' Jacob added. NCJP's deputy director Atta ur Rehman said Pakistan needs more reforms for its 'harsh criminal justice system.' 'The Church has always advocated for an affirmative approach to justice. Our position remains firm: the death penalty is against the sanctity of life,' Rehman Saman told UCA has seen a rise in death sentences recently, sparking concerns from rights groups. Pakistan courts handed down a total of 174 death sentences last year, a significant increase from 102 sentences in 2023, according to the Human Rights Commission of
