How the man appointed to the top of the Fund that manages the RCA bankruptcies got to lend, without interest, the Deputy Prime Minister Cătălin Predoiu and what the PNL leader says
The new head of the Guarantee Fund for Insureds is Vasile Alecsandru Strat, dean at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest.
The Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) recently appointed the president of the Guarantee Fund of the Insured (FGA), the institution that manages the major bankruptcies in RCA (such as City Insurance and Euroins). It is Vasile Alecsandru Strat, dean at ASE.
Vasile Alecsandru Strat loaned Deputy Prime Minister Cătălin Predoiu almost 40,000 euros in 2004 to pay PNL his contribution to the electoral campaign. “It was introduced to me by my colleague Tănase Stamule, I have no other relationship with him”, claims Cătălin Predoiu in an article for HotNews.ro.
Stamule is a PNL member, was part of the government apparatus and is a teacher at ASE.
Vasile Alecsandru Strat, the dean of the Bucharest Business School (BBS), the business faculty dedicated to MBA programs within the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE), confirmed to HotNews that he was appointed president of the Board of Directors of the Insurance Fund (FGA) on January 23, 2026, for a 5-year term.
The appointment of Vasile Alecsandru Strat was not publicly announced by ASF, but the change appeared on the website of the Guarantee Fund of the Insured. The CV of the new president can be consulted on the ASE website.
Predoiu borrowed to contribute to PNL
Vasile Alecsandru Strat's name appears in the most recent declaration of wealth, signed at the end of 2024, of PNL Deputy Prime Minister Cătălin Predoiu.
The liberal mentions that he borrowed 198,000 lei from Vasile Alecsandru Strat, an amount that was due in 2025.
The same amount was passed by Predoiu as a contribution to PNL Prahova for the parliamentary election campaign.
Cătălin Predoiu was elected as a senator of PNL Prahova in the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Predoiu explained the loan
Contacted by HotNews.ro, PNL Deputy Prime Minister Cătălin Predoiu specified how he ended up taking this loan.
“I contracted the loan to honor the commitment established by the party for each candidate, namely to contribute a certain amount, legally, to the electoral campaign. I returned the loan as soon as the amount was returned to me by the PNL. The lender was introduced to me by my colleague Tănase Stamule, I have no other relationship with the dance, I did not have a relationship after the loan was granted or after the loan was returned,” Cătălin Predoiu told HotNews.ro.
Tănase Stamule, dean of the Faculty of Business Administration with teaching in foreign languages from ASE, held the position of State Counselor in the Chancellery of the PNL Prime Minister at the time, Ludovic Orban, in 2019 and is still involved in the public communication of this party.
“As far as I remember”, Cătălin Predoiu also specified, “the loan was without interest, but I can check the contract and the bank records, the loan was granted and returned by bank transfer and was officially declared through the declaration of assets and interests, according to the law”.
The deputy prime minister declares himself “completely foreign” to the appointment from the FGA
HotNews.ro also asked the PNL deputy prime minister to what extent it is possible that these loans and political relationships mattered in the appointment of Strat as president of the CA in the FGA.
“I do not know the subject of appointments in the FGA's Board of Directors, I have no connection with this subject, I have not discussed this subject with any person, neither with the lender, nor with other persons, neither from a political point of view nor from an administrative point of view, I am a complete stranger to this subject.” replied the PNL deputy prime minister.
The dean of ASE, about the loan to Predoiu: “There was no interest”
Contacted by HotNews, Vasile Alecsandru Strat explained how he met Cătălin Predoiu and how he ended up lending him money.
“I met (Cătălin Predoiu – nr) almost ten years ago (around 2017) in the context of an event in the political sphere, but I don't think he will remember because he probably meets a lot of people. I ended up borrowing him following a discussion with my colleague Tănase Stamule”, stated Strat.
HotNews asked the ASE dean if he asked for interest on the borrowed amount, how much he earned and when he got his money back.
“The money was returned after a few months (Feb-March 2025, if I remember correctly) and the loan had no interest,” said Vasile Strat.
“All the connections I have have effects to varying degrees”
HotNews reported to the dean of ASE that, in his most recent declaration of wealth, from June 2024, he mentions that in 2023 he lent 500,000 lei to Tănase Stamule.
Do you feel that these political connections facilitated your appointment as FGA Board President? asked HotNews.ro.
“As far as I know, Tănase Stamule is a PNL member. I could not confirm or deny your hypothesis, although I am a follower of the cause-effect logic. All the connections I have have effects to varying degrees on things in my private and professional life,” replied Dean Vasile Alecsandru Strat.
According to the wealth declaration, Vasile Strat has several deposits of hundreds of thousands of lei opened in 2023, and the cumulative income for the whole year 2023 exceeded 635,000 lei.
What plans does the dean of ASE have at FGA
Vasile Strat specified, at the request of HotNews, some of the activities he is aiming for as president of the Board of Directors of the FGA:
“Important elements of the activity will be, among others: the pursuit of strengthening the international cooperation of the FGA with similar European bodies for the operationalization of payment systems between guarantee schemes, the continuous monitoring of the activity of recovery of claims and other patrimonial rights of the Guarantee Fund of the insured and the completion of the reorganization according to legal requests”, said Strat.
