President Dan appoints PM Bolojan as interim Vice PM following Anastasiu's resignation

President Nicusor Dan signed on Thursday the decree appointing Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan as interim Vice Prime Minister on the areas coordinated by Dragos Anastasiu, the Presidential Administration informed.

On 27 July, Dragos Anastasiu announced he was stepping down from the vice prime minister office, mentioning that he could no longer accept "being denigrated and thus having the image of the Romanian Government discredited," after reports emerged in the press suggesting that, as a businessman, he had paid bribes for 8 years to a tax official from the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF).

"At this moment, in this climate, it is very clear to me that I can no longer help, that no matter what I say or do, the process of denigration will continue based on certain facts, but taken to the extreme. This is the reason why, after discussing with the prime minister, I told him that I would now do more harm than good and that it's time for me to step aside, step back, whatever you want to call it, and resign", Anastasiu told a press conference at the Victoria Palace.

The decree taking note of Dragos Anastasiu's resignation from the vice prime minister office was published in the Official Journal on August 8.