The Minister of Agriculture says that he is not taking measures for the time being regarding the head of AFIR, sentenced to prison. “A successful manager”
Florin Barbu, the Minister of Agriculture, said that he will not take any action regarding Adrian Chesnoiu, the director of the Agency for the Financing of Rural Investments (AFIR), until “a final and irrevocable decision” from the justice system. A week ago, Chesnoiu was sentenced by the High Court to 4 years in prison with execution. The decision is not final.
Asked on Wednesday on Agro TV if he considers it “appropriate from a moral and administrative point of view” for Adrian Chesnoiu to remain in charge of AFIR, the minister replied: “First of all, we, as politicians, have always been accused of interfering in justice. I do not want to intervene in Romanian justice at the moment.”
He claims that Adrian Chesnoiu “is a successful director, he brought 2.8 billion euros to Romania in 2025 and together with him we are developing the Romanian village”.
“Mr. Chesnoiu, in the year 2025, because he manages a lot of European funds and we are talking about AFIR, he brought, unprecedented in Romania, 2.8 billion euros. I think it is a performance”, said Florin Barbu.
The minister said he would not take action “until we have a final and irrevocable decision” from the judiciary.
“Mr. Chesnoiu obtained the post of director of the rural development agency through a competition and, until we have a definitive and irrevocable decision, I will not take any action regarding Mr. Chesnoiu (…). Until then, I want us to continue the development of the Romanian village and to attract as many European funds as possible in 2026,” the PSD Minister of Agriculture also stated.
Chesnoiu, sentenced to prison by the High Court
Adrian Chesnoiu, former PSD Minister of Agriculture, was sentenced by the High Court of Cassation and Justice to 4 years in prison with execution, in a case related to the fraud of employment contests in the ministry. The decision taken on March 4 by the ÎCCJ is not final.
The former PSD deputy was sent to court by the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) in 2022. The prosecutors accused him of abuse of office and of committing four crimes of instigation (in the form of improper participation) in allowing unauthorized persons access to information that is not intended for publicity, in order to obtain undue benefits for another, according to Agerpres.
In addition, the court admitted the civil action filed by the Ministry of Agriculture and forced Chesnoiu to pay the amount of 50,995 lei, representing the salary expenses incurred by the Ministry of Agriculture between April 1 and June 28, 2022, he also has to pay 13,500 lei as legal expenses to the state.
Chesnoiu resigned as minister in June 2022, after the DNA requested the lifting of his immunity. He is currently general manager at AFIR.
