Energy Minister Virgil Popescu said on Monday that the intervention of PSD de Gorj leaders demanding his resignation in the context of the Jilț-Sud accident was a “low-level act”.

“It’s an act… let’s say it’s not high to use the tragedy that happened,” Virgil Popescu said on Monday when asked about PSD’s release requests.

Why are PSD leaders attacking the Minister of Energy and demanding his resignation

We remind you that several PSD leaders from Gorzh recently demanded the honorable resignation of the Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu, after the accident at the factory in Gorzh.

Gorz Cosmin District Council President Mihai Popescu (PSD) accused Popescu of “incompetence”.

“I made sure that he is not interested in what is happening with Gorzhul. He did not care at all about our requests, starting with the hydrological development on Jiu and ending with how he is now making fun of the tragedy and using it to pretend that he cares about the people of CE Oltenia,” he said. Popescu, news.ro reports.

He also asked the minister to resign a day ago in a post on his Facebook page. “Virgil Popescu, resign! You are not human! Politeness and respect no longer make sense because PNL is stepping on corpses and dragging through the mud the pain of the employees and families of those who died, starting in 2019, with CE Oltenia. As a proof, his messengers from Gorj thank God that PSD did not manage the CEO because the company was in a state of bankruptcy,” wrote Cosmin Mihai Popescu on Facebook.

Another social democrat, MP from Gorj, Mihai Weber, wrote on his page in the social network that “the resignation is an act of honor and an example for all those who are responsible for what is happening in the mining activities in Complex Energy Oltenia, from those who who heads the Ministry of Energy, to the last employee of the company who has the authority to make decisions, appointed only according to PNL’s political criteria.”

Another PSD MP, this time from Giurgiu, attacked PNL President Nicolae Chuke, whom he asked: “Why are your PNL people killing people?! By stupidity, by thievery and by cynicism?!”

“A woman died from dog bites, in sector 6 – PNL. Three miners died, crushed in the mud, in Gorja under the leadership of PNL CE Oltenia. How many more people must die Mr. President Chuke under the leadership of the NLP for you to wake up and act like the general that you are? Cut to flesh sir,” Meena wrote on Facebook.

In fact, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu has been on PSD’s blacklist since last year, as he has been repeatedly publicly criticized by Social Democrat leaders.

The PSD leaders’ attacks on the Minister of Energy are highlighted by the party’s leadership, as this is not the first time PSD has demanded the resignation of Virgil Popescu.

The war between Virgil Popescu and the PSD began with the liberalization of the energy market and the increase in electricity bills. Popescu and PSD attacked each other and passed the responsibility on this topic.

In January 2022, Virgil Popescu’s Ministry of Energy (PNL) launched an attack on ANRE, led by former PSD deputy Dumitru Čirica, in a scandal involving false energy and gas bills. The minister charges that NARE’s actions would have sent a signal to the market that suppliers could flee, and this would not have happened if the authorities had controlled suppliers and told them not to release invoices if the computer systems were not ready.

The Social Democrats accused Popescu of having “evil intentions” and playing a “smart game in energy.” PSD complained of poor cooperation with the Minister of Energy and repeatedly clashed with him over decrees on energy price caps.

In August 2022, PSD President Marcel Čolaku strongly criticized Energy Minister Virgil Popescu, saying he “leaves the impression that he is qualified for the job”, which he considered “unacceptable” for the portfolio and in the context of the current energy crisis.

Mistakes of Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu and who is defending him

Virgil Popescu was proposed and supported by the PNL for the post of Minister of Energy in Ludovic Orbán’s government (2021), as well as the PSD-PNL-UDMR government led by Nicolae Chuke.

While working in the Ministry of Energy, Popescu was publicly criticized for his poor management of the liberalization of the energy market, for two mistakes in the development of a resolution on limiting energy prices for the population.

The PSD accused Popescu of favoring “energy savants”, alleging that a provision favorable to them had been included in the decree.

“We have an overtaxation of producers, but even there someone slipped through, in the Decree, to take the average price, so that they fell below 450, so that this overstatement was, and I would very much like the Prime Minister to find To find out who inserted this average price in the last decree, let us also know who is playing underground games in Romania for energy,” Çolaku stated in August 2022.

In addition, in December 2022, the Minister of Energy announced the introduction of the third amendment to the order on limiting the prices of energy carriers, which canceled the declaration of own responsibility provided for by the law on limit sizes.

Popescu also caused controversy in the market when the “solar tax” regulation appeared, which stipulated that the central state administration and ANRE could apply taxes to consumers of self-generated renewable energy from December 1, 2026. , as he claimed, followed by Energy Minister Virgil Popescu the next day.

Energy Minister Virgil Popescu publicized and called the introduction of a sun tax fake news and noted that all Romanians who install photovoltaic panels on their homes will not pay any tax for the energy they consume and produce.

Popescu is one of the PNL leaders who enjoys the unconditional support of President Klaus Iohannis, PNL sources told HotNews.ro.

“Virgil Popescu’s activity is the best, it is recognized by the Americans, and he is the guarantor of investments and energy security of Romania. Didn’t he bring all the American investments into the country? Did he find an investor in Midia? Americans consider him the most successful minister of the government, no one can challenge him in the party,” the leader of the liberals commented ironically.