Ascultă Radio România Actualitaţi Live

Media Headlines

The daily Evenimentul Zilei speculated on what happened behind the scenes of the release of buisnessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu.

Media Headlines
Sorin Ovidiu Vantu. Foto: Mediafax.

22 Septembrie 2010, 12:21

At first, prosecutors managed to convince the court that, based on their actions, the three displayed criminal perseverance, and therefore have to be taken into custody. The Court of Appeal, however, reversed the decision.

The daily Evenimentul Zilei speculated on what happened behind the scenes of this release, insinuating that the decision was influenced by a female judge whose husband, himself a magistrate, had previously been detained in a high level corruption case.


The daily Adevarul headlines: “You can sleep without worry, Sorin Ovidiu Vantu is free!”, paraphrasing a famous advertising slogan from 10 years ago: “You can sleep without worry, the National Investment Fund is working for you!”, ran the original.

The National Investment Fund collapsed in 2000 when it was exposed as a huge fraud, having ripped off 300,000 Romanians and losing them hundreds of millions of dollars. Sorin Ovidiu Vantu was said to have been behind the scheme, but nothing could be proven, as he did not sign a single document related to that business.

The people found guilty of the National Investment Fund disaster were Ana Maria Vlas, who is still in jail, and Nicolae Popa, currently a fugitive reported as being in Indonesia, whom Vantu allegedly gave money to, in order to bribe his way out of extradition.

Maria Vlas told the Adevarul daily that Popa would have been the one who handled the dirty business of the FNI, and that for that reason Vantu was indebted to him. Popa was arrested in December, and is in the middle of extradition proceedings.


This affair is just as complicated as the biography of Sorin Ovidiu Vantu himself. A powerful businessman, Vantu maintained and pursued ties with former officers of the political police of the communist regime, the Securitate.

By sponsoring politicians and parties, on the one hand, and people in culture and the arts on the other, Vantu managed to protect his businesses and make them more and more profitable, and to build up a positive public image.

His difficult relationship with president Traian Basescu, which turned from sympathy to enmity, as Vantu’s press empire turned increasingly critical of the president, explains, according to analysts and commentators, his sudden arrest.

The editorial in the daily Gandul summarizes in no uncertain terms what everyone seems to believe: “Releasing Vantu after his arrest is the final act in a match of arm wrestling between two titans of the dark underworld of Romanian politics, Basescu and Vantu, both born out of the old world”.

(Radio România Internaţional, Serviciul în limba engleză).

Pensioners with incomes below 3.000 lei will receive their aid from the state "in the first part of October"
News in English 27 Septembrie 2023, 03:22

Pensioners with incomes below 3.000 lei will receive their aid from the state "in the first part of October"

Pensioners with incomes below 3.000 lei will receive their aid from the state in money, in the first part of October,...

Pensioners with incomes below 3.000 lei will receive their aid from the state "in the first part of October"
The "Photovoltaic Green House" program has been suspended
News in English 27 Septembrie 2023, 03:21

The "Photovoltaic Green House" program has been suspended

The "Photovoltaic Green House" program was suspended, after the Oradea Court of Appeal admitted the request of one...

The "Photovoltaic Green House" program has been suspended
The government allocates 500 million lei from the reserve fund for investment programs
News in English 26 Septembrie 2023, 03:08

The government allocates 500 million lei from the reserve fund for investment programs

The government has established the allocation of 500 million lei from the Budgetary Reserve Fund for the continuity of some...

The government allocates 500 million lei from the reserve fund for investment programs
News in English 26 Septembrie 2023, 03:07

Increasing access to cultural activities and technological updating - some of the directions of public policies

Increasing access to cultural activities and technological updating are some of the directions of public policies, open...

Increasing access to cultural activities and technological updating - some of the directions of public policies
The Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, wants to digitize the assessment for all national exams
News in English 26 Septembrie 2023, 03:06

The Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, wants to digitize the assessment for all national exams

The Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, wants to digitize the assessment for all national exams. She stated yesterday, at a...

The Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, wants to digitize the assessment for all national exams
Mountain hunters participate for 2 weeks in an important military exercise in Brasov county
News in English 26 Septembrie 2023, 03:04

Mountain hunters participate for 2 weeks in an important military exercise in Brasov county

The largest military exercise of this year for mountain hunters began yesterday in Brasov county. The exercise will end on...

Mountain hunters participate for 2 weeks in an important military exercise in Brasov county
The final shape of the fiscal package will be decided next week
News in English 24 Septembrie 2023, 23:35

The final shape of the fiscal package will be decided next week

The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies will meet, most likely next week, in joint session, for the package of...

The final shape of the fiscal package will be decided next week
Austria accuses Romania of blocking the participation of some of its army officers in NATO meetings
News in English 24 Septembrie 2023, 23:34

Austria accuses Romania of blocking the participation of some of its army officers in NATO meetings

The government in Bucharest is blocking the participation of some Austrian officers in the meetings of the North Atlantic...

Austria accuses Romania of blocking the participation of some of its army officers in NATO meetings