Romanian Tourism Ministry To Sue Liberal Ludovic Orban For Slander

Romania's Tourism Ministry will sue liberal Ludovic Orban, president of the inquiry committee investigating the ministry's public spending, for slander and abuse of office after he said none of the advertisement expenses made by the Tourism Ministry were legal.

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The Tourism Ministry decided to sue liberal deputy Ludovic Orban, president of the inquiry committee that investigates the way the ministry spent money for advertising Romania as tourist destination, for slander, according to article 206 of the Criminal Code, and abuse of office, according to article 248 of the Criminal Code, the Tourism Ministry's press office said Thursday.

Orban said, after the hearings held Thursday, that all the members in the inquiry committee reached the conclusion that advertising expenditures made by the ministry did not have a legal basis and they infringed the public finance law.

The Tourism Ministry also said Orban overstepped his attributions when he presented a conclusion of the members of the committee before the committee even finished its investigations.

All the decisions of the Tourism Ministry regarding the money used in the promotion campaign were made without prior market studies, Orban said Thursday.

All the advertising expenses made by the Tourism Ministry were based on the law on public finance and government decision no. 314/2009 regarding the approval of the annual program for touristic project development, the Tourism Ministry said.

“All our doubts regarding the legal basis of these expenses are still not cleared”, Orban said, adding that “there are clear irregularities in the public procurement procedures” made by the Tourism Ministry.

The documents regarding the public procurement procedures should have been published within 48 days from contract signing, said Orban.

Asked by the journalists which of the committee's conclusions involve tourism minister Elena Udrea, Orban said all these conclusions are related to the minister.

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