Romanian Lower House Adopts Report On Sterling’s Black Sea Lease Contract

Before adopting the decision, Iulian Iancu, deputy with Social Democratic Party PSD and head of the investigation committee, presented the report regarding the oil agreement closed between Sterling and Romania’s Mineral Resources Agency ANRM, saying that it was negotiated and sealed awithout legal grounds.

Iancu said Sterling Resources had no environment authorization or other authorizations for the works, and that it sent incorrect data to the commission.

Iancu proposed that the report of the parliamentary commission would be sent to the Prosecutor’s Office, to the Government of Romania, to the Court of Accounts and to the Romanian Intelligence Service.

According to the decision adopted by the deputies, in 15 days, the legal commission would have to draft a report on the starting of prosecution of the former Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu.

Romania’s Government finalized the investigations in the case of the contract sealed with Canada’s Sterling Resources and decided to notify the Prosecutor’s Office on the report, which shows the agreement with the Canadian company was extended to avoid other auctions.

The report concluded that three former heads of Romania’s Mineral Resources Agency, an ex-head of the Government’s General Secretary and a former secretary of state with the Finance Ministry were responsible for the contract extension.

"The checkups revealed that changes have been brought to the initial contract by appendices signed by the Mineral Resources Agency ANRM, through president Mihail Ianas (appendix 1-7), president Maria Iuliana Stratulat (appendix 8-10) and president Bogdan Gabudeanu (appendix 11), regarding the extending of the contract’s duration, without verifying the meeting of the undertaken obligations, to avoid the annulment and the launch of other bids. The checkups also showed changes of the contract partners and the failing to meet the law in force regarding the assigning of contracts and the adopting of normative acts by Tariceanu government," official sources told MEDIAFAX, quoting the government’s report.