The Court of Appeal of Bucharest confirmed the decision of the Court of Bucharest of April 2022, according to which the selection procedure of the current Hidroelectrica Directorate is declared completely invalid. The rejection of Hidroelectrica’s appeal confirms once again the fact that the entire process of recruitment and appointment of 5 members of the Hidroelectrica Directorate, by the majority of companies controlled by the Romanian state through the Ministry of Energy, was carried out in violation of the law.

The appeal was filed against the decision of the Bucharest Court, which annulled the “recruitment and selection procedure for the filling of five positions of members of the board of directors of SPEEH Hidroelectrica SA” and stipulated “an obligation to issue a new recruitment procedure”. The decision of the Court of Appeal of Bucharest dated March 1, 2023 is subject to enforcement, according to a statement from Mihai Kehaiyan’s law firm.

“The decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal clearly indicates that the process of selection and appointment of the five directors of Hidroelectrica was inappropriate. Generally, public or state-owned companies must comply with Decree 109/2011 on corporate governance and elect their directors based on a competition with clear rules. However, in the case of Hidroelectrica, the tender had numerous procedural flaws and minimized the chances of candidates who were not preferred.” said Mihai Kekhayan, a lawyer who represented the plaintiff in the lawsuit.

“Actually, the five directors of “Hydroelectricity” no longer have any legal status – they can no longer sign documents, they can no longer represent the company. Practically since March 1, they are no longer part of the Directorate of Hydroelectricity. It would be interesting to see what happens to all the salaries and bonuses they have earned from 2019 to date, given that the recruitment and selection process through which they were appointed to the position has been declared invalid. What we have achieved thanks to two unequivocal court decisions is not only a victory against one of the most important companies in the energy sector, but also a victory against fraud in the election of management bodies in capital companies of the state. There are more and more cases when state-owned companies decide to implement internal procedures that violate the law and are deeply tainted by the interests of third parties,” Mihai Kegayan added.

According to the data in the file, some of those selected did not meet the selection criteria provided by the competition procedure for the selection of directors, such as: knowledge of the English language, the minimum number of years of experience required or the absence of a conflict of interest. Practically, these people could not even get to the selection competition.

“It would be tempting to evade the mandatory decision of the appeals court by referring to all kinds of frivolous interpretations. But how could Hidroelectrica continue the long-awaited listing process by signing several persons selected illegally and on whom they have moral and professional suspicions?”, lawyer Kekhayan also noted.

The current management of Hidroelectrica was introduced in the summer of 2019 and, according to the regulation, was to be replaced in the summer of 2023. The five directors who formed the management of Hidroelectrica – from 2019 until the decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal – are: Bohdan Badia – president, Marian Bratu, Rezvan Ionuc Patsaliou, Radu Christian Pop (replaced, in the meantime, by Andrii Gerea) and Christian Vladoianu.