February
2007
4
APPOINTMENTS
 
4
Vol. 3 No.1  
 
 
  • Mr Dan Stefan Motreanu, 36, is Romania's new Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development. A National Liberal Party (PNL) member, Mr Motreanu is a graduate in letters, philosophy and history from the West University, Timisoara and in 'Entrepreneurism' from Neuchatel University, Switzerland. Mr Motreanu is also the president of the National Liberal Youth and is married with two children.
  • Mr Varujan Vosganian, 48, is Romania's new Minister of Economy and Trade. With a PhD in Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) in Bucharest, Mr Vosganian also has a degree in mathematics from the University of Bucharest and has been the president of the Budget, Finance, Banks and Capital Markets Committee in the Romanian Senate. He is a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and president of the Armenian Union in Romania. Mr Vosganian is married with one child, and speaks fluent Armenian, English and French.
  • Following the shock resignation of its head six months ago, the National Authority for Tourism has a new president, 42-year old Monica Barbuletiu. A National Liberal Party (PNL) member since 1997, Barbuletiu was previously general manager of the Railway Tourism Company, part of the state-owned Romanian railway company (CFR). Between 1995 and 2005 she was director of tourism agency Delta Travel and, befor this role, engineer for CFR Timisoara and Cluj-Napoca. Barbuletiu graduated from the Bucharest Polytechnic in Transport Technology and has a marketing and accounting degree from West University, Arad. She is fluent in English and French and married with two children.
  • Superior Council of Magistracy [CSM] has appointed 59 year old Anton Pandrea as its President. Pandrea has 30 years experience as a magistrate in Bucharest. He has been a judge at High Court since 2001 and president of its criminal department since 2004.
  • Magistrate Colonel Mr Gheorghe Cosneanu is the head of a new anti-graft division in the Ministry of Defence, the Directorate for Preventing and Investigating Corruption and Fraud. Based on a British model, the department's objectives are to ensure integrity at all levels of the Romanian army. 50 year-old Col. Cosneanu was first military prosecutor at the Military Prosecutor's Office in Timisoara until his new posting.
  • Mr Octavian Belu has been appointed as president of the National Sports Authority. Formerly a state counsellor on sports issues in Romania’s Presidency, Mr Belu is a world-renowned gymnastics coach and until August 2005 was head coach of Romania’s gymnastics team. Among his team's accomplishments are two Olympic titles, five consecutive world titles, six European titles and over 300 gold, silver and bronze medals.
  • Ms Manuela Plapcianu is now general manager for Bancpost, replacing Mr George Michelis. Mrs Plapcianu is the former vice president of HVB Tiriac Bank and has also been HVB Retail Manager since 2003. Previous to the HVB experience, Ms Plapcianu acted as Territorial Network Director with Citibank and as manager of the Group Sales Directions within ABN Amro Romania. A graduate of the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest, she also holds an MBA from the University of Seattle.
  • Mr Radu Ghetea is now non-executive board president of Alpha Bank Romania. Formerly first vice president of the bank, Mr Ghetea is also head of the Romanian Banking Association (ABR).
  • Mr Sergiu Oprescu, 43, has become executive president of Alpha Bank Romania. Prior to this appointment Mr Oprescu acted as executive vice president of the bank, and his professional background also includes tenure as president of the Bucharest Stock Exchange until 2006.
  • Mr Jonathan Soper is the new general manager of InterContinental Hotel Bucharest. Born in Hong Kong in 1950, the British manager grew up in Kenya and studied hotel management in Switzerland. Previous positions include general manager of the InterContinental Hotel in Livingstone, Zambia and at the Ceylan Intercontinental in Istanbul. He speaks English, French and Swahili.
  • Mr Tjeerd Jegen has taken over as country manager for Real Hypermarket Romania, replacing Mr John Rix. Prior to joining the Romanian operations, Mr Jegen has acted as sales vice president for Ahold – central Europe.
  • Mr Cristian Rigu, 33, is the new country manager for Mazda in Romania. Previously to this appointment he was general manager for sales and marketing for Daewoo Automobile Romania.
  • Mr Alexander Theobald is the new general manager of Ringier Media.
  • Mrs Iulia Buje, 46, has been appointed as Romania's consul general at the General Consulate in Lyon, France. Previously general consul at Romania's General Consulate in Los Angeles, Mrs Buje has also acted as a consul in Washington DC.
  • Mr Aivaras Zilinskas, 26, is the new attache responsible for economic and consular issues at the Lithuanian Embassy in Bucharest. With an MA from the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University, Mr Zilinskas has also worked as an attache in the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Consular Department. He is married and speaks fluent English, Russian and Polish.
  • Mr Balint Marton Porcsalmi, 26, is a new state secretary in the Ministry of IT&C. Formerly chief of cabinet for Minister Nagy, Minister of IT & C, Mr Porcsalmi has also been a member of the board of directors of Romtelecom and Posta Romana. Still a student at the National Defence College in Bucharest, he has a degree in political; science from the Political and Administrative Sciences Faculty at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.
  • Mr Marius Gabriel Lazurca, 35, has been appointed as Romania's Ambassador to the Holy See and to the Military Sovereign Order of Malta. Fluent in English and French, Mr Lazurca also speaks Italian.
  • Mr Philip Hall has been appointed deputy head of mission at the Embassy of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, taking over from Mr Iain Lindsay.

 

 

  • Ms Liliana Biglou has been appointed as director of the British Council Romania.
  • Mr Omar Ahmed Selim has been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul at the Egyptian Embassy in Bucharest. Mr Selim, 44, has served in Houston, Lisbon, Rome and, most recently, as director of the EU Department in the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He speaks Arabic, French and English.
  • Prof. Eugenio Caligiuri has been appointed Honorary Consul for Equatorial Guinea to Romania.