Delia Velculescu, director at the IMF, Radu Burnete, presidential adviser, and Eugen Tomac, MEP and honorary adviser to the president, are the three options for prime minister discussed informally in Cotroceni, political sources for Adevărul claim.
There are three names of technocrats on the president's list. PHOTO: AFP
Who is Delia Velculescu
Delia Velculescu has been working at the IMF for almost 23 years, currently being deputy director, head of the IMF mission for South Africa.
Delia Velculescu was in charge of the IMF mission in Greece from 2015 to 2018, replacing Rishi Goyal. The Greek press wrote then that Delia Velculescu is “the brunette version of IMF chief Christine Lagarde”, both having “the elegance and instinct of birds of prey”.
She was appointed to head the IMF mission in Greece due to her experience in assessing the finances of the Greek state, the Greek press wrote in 2015. She was also recommended for her rigid character, shown in 2012, during a similar mission in Cyprus, where she acquired her nickname “Delia Drăculescu”. She would have caused the Cypriot officials to sweat.
The leader of UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, was asked last year if the issue of appointing Delia Velculescu, head of the IMF mission for South Africa, to the position of technocrat prime minister was raised. Hunor specified that, when the discussion took place, he found out about Delia Velculescu.
“I can't deny it. When she was discussed we all found out who she is,” Kelemen Hunor said in June 2025.
Radu Burnete, current presidential adviser
Radu Burnete is the current presidential advisor for economic and social issues. He was appointed to the Cotroceni Palace last summer, after a five-year experience as executive director of the Concordia Employers' Confederation.
Previously, Burnete was active in the Council of Foreign Investors and worked in Brussels for a consulting company in the field of financial services. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Bucharest and holds a master's degree obtained in Vienna.
Eugen Tomac, the third name circulated
Eugen Tomac was appointed honorary advisor for the relationship with Romanians everywhere, a position he took over from October 2025.
His institutional career began in 2006, when he was appointed an expert within the Presidential Administration, having duties in managing relations with Romanians outside the borders. Three years later, during the Emil Boc government, he was appointed secretary of state at the Department for Romanians Everywhere, a mandate he continued in the Executive led by Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu. During this period, he supported and implemented several educational and cultural programs dedicated to the Romanian communities in Ukraine, Serbia and the Republic of Moldova. In 2012, he resigned from his position to take the step into parliamentary politics.
President Nicușor Dan organizes an extensive round of consultations with the parliamentary parties, with a view to appointing the candidate for the position of prime minister, after the dismissal of the Government led by Ilie Bolojan through a motion of no confidence.
