Energy transmission company Transelectrica announced on Thursday that it has lost another lawsuit at the Arbitration Center in Vienna, filed by former members of the supervisory board and board of directors, because they were removed from their positions before the end of their terms of office. Their removal from positions was carried out for political reasons. This time, Ciprian Constantin Dumitru, a former member of the supervisory board who was recalled in 2011, won the Arbitration Center in Vienna, forcing the company to pay a total of almost 2 million lei. He is not the only one who won at Transelectrica.

The principal amount that Ciprian Constantin Dumitru should receive from Transelectrica is 838.7 thousand lei, to which is added legal interest, updated to take into account the level of inflation, of which 605.7 thousand lei is compensation related to fixed gross monthly allowances for 39 Mondays, 46.6 thousand lei represent the variable component of the remuneration for 2020, and 186.3 thousand lei represent compensation for non-competitive activities. In addition, the company must pay all arbitration costs, fees and expenses in the amount of EUR 16,573.30 and 178,169.89 lei (including VAT).

In December 2022, Oleg Burlaku, a former member of the supervisory board, won, obliging the company to pay the sum of 792,132 lei (the main amount), to which additional and court costs are added. Following Burlak’s success, other former Transelectrica executives filed arbitration claims with the Vienna Arbitration Center. They are Adrian Goycea, former president of the Supervisory Board, Ciprian Constantin Dumitru, Luisa Popescu, former members of the Supervisory Board, and Catalin Nitsu, former member of the Directorate. The amounts they are asking for are about 3 million lei. They were all expelled long before the end of the 4-year term.

In April 2021, Cătălin Nițu, a former member of the board, won an amount of 559,164 lei (principal amount), plus accessories and court costs. Cătălin Nițu was not satisfied with this and again submitted Transelectrica to the Vienna Arbitration Center, this time demanding 2.2 million lei.

Transelectrica pays well due to political changes and appointments

On June 22, 2021, the General Secretariat of the Government (SGG), as the majority shareholder, decided to change the members of the Supervisory Board of Transelectrica without giving reasons. In essence, the seven members of the COP, who had full four-year mandates until September 2024, were recalled, replaced by five temporary members with mandates of 4 months, valid only until October 22, 2021.

Three days after the dismissal of the executives, on June 23, 2021, the new Board recalled the members of the Company’s Board of Directors, although they had a mandate until November 2024, filling with temporary ones. Sources on the ground said at the time that the replacements were politically motivated. The government at the time was controlled by Florin Sitsu and his associates, and all those dismissed were appointed to Orbán’s government. Most of the Transelectrica executives were dismissed due to the change of Government, although, in theory, corporate governance legislation should have prevented such practices, appointments based on political criteria in state-owned companies.

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• SGG dismissed the supervisory board of Transelectrica, appointed in the Orbán government / The company will have to pay compensation to the dismissed
• Transelectrica: The directorate was also dismissed after the Supervisory Board / People appointed in the Orbán government with a mandate of 4 years were replaced by temporary ones