Oana Gheorghiu, about the company that was the subject of a dispute between Bolojan and Olguța Vasilescu: “From opportunity to disaster”
Interim Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu stated that Romania lost a 162 million euro funding from the PNRR, non-refundable money, because Electrocentrale Craiova “collapsed financially” after “it was taken over in 2024 by a politically appointed director, without direct technical experience in energy”.
In the message sent on Tuesday evening on Facebook, Oana Gheorghiu does not directly name Lorena Voican, who took over the management of Societăță Electrocentrale Craiova on July 1, 2024, according to the local publication Gazeta de Sud, and who was appointed special administrator after the company entered insolvency.
According to the deputy prime minister, in order to access the 162 million euros, “tenders had to be organized, construction had to start and deadlines had to be respected”, but “the tenders were canceled and no builder wanted to undertake the project under the conditions created”.
“The management of the company was taken over in 2024 by a politically appointed director, with no direct technical experience in energy. Under the political management, the company collapsed financially, lost European funding, accumulated huge debts and became insolvent (December 2025),” wrote Oana Gheorghiu.
She said that the debts of Electrocentrale Craiova reached almost 1 billion lei, from 250 million lei, in a single year.
“The company lost 433 million lei in a single year, the over 40-year-old installations deteriorated even more, and tens of thousands of people were left without heat last winter, added Oana Gheorghiu.
The same director was appointed as a special administrator
Oana Gheorghiu said that after the company entered insolvency “the same person politically appointed as director was appointed as special administrator”.
“That is to say, the man under whose management the company ended up in the pit was then made to “save” it. In addition, since the company did not buy the mandatory greenhouse gas emission certificates on time, the Romanian state received a penalty of 596 million lei (almost 120 million Euros) which will have to be paid, in the end, also by us”, continued the deputy prime minister.
In conclusion, she emphasized that “the reform of state companies is not a fad, but a necessity whose postponement costs each of us dearly”.
Thermofication in Craiova, subject of controversy between Lia Olguța Vasilescu and Ilie Bolojan
The heating situation in Craiova has caused disputes in recent months between Lia Olguța Vasilescu, the PSD mayor of Craiova, and Ilie Bolojan, the PNL leader and the prime minister dismissed by the PSD-AUR motion of censure.
Lia Olguța Vasilescu repeatedly accused Ilie Bolojan, in January, of not wanting to help heating in Craiova and of deliberately bankrupting the company Electrocentrale Craiova.
Instead, the liberal stated that the amount of 168 million euros was allocated from the PNRR for investments that have not been made and, in addition, the company borrowed 70 million euros from EximBank, money that “will never be repaid”.
