25.04.2012

PRESS RELEASE

The Public Information and Press Relations Bureau within the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is authorized to bring to public knowledge the following:

Following the investigations in the cause regarding the “Sighetu Marmatiei explosion”, the prosecutors within the Criminal and Forensics Section  of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice ordered the initiation  of the criminal action against the defendant GEORGESCU EUGEN and his apprehension for a period of 24 hours, beginning with 25 April 2012, 19.00 hours until 26April 2012, 19.00 hours.

From the evidence administrated in the cause until this moment of the criminal prosecution it results that, in his quality as general director of the National Agency for Energy Regulation, respectively the chief of the  Department for control and consumers protection, in the period 2007 – May 2009, being competent for organizing, coordinating and verification of the reports  regarding the  controls carried out by the agents of the N.A.E.R. in the territory , has knowingly improperly fulfilled his  service duties.

So, according to the evidence administrated in the cause, it result that he didn’t take the measures provided by law and proposed by the ascertaining agents, regarding  the suspension of the licenses and authorizations issued to the defendant SC BERG SISTEM GAZ SA,  even if during  November 2007, as well as during the year 2008, he has been notified by his subordinates. These have carried out controls at this company and have informed GEORGESCU EUGEN about the serious irregularities ascertained .

Anyway, during June 2008 GEORGESCU EUGEN requested his subordinate, the ascertaining agent P.A., to modify the inspection report, in the sense of elimination of the  measures  concerning the suspension of the licenses and the authorizations issued for SC BERG SISTEM GAZ SA.

The inappropriate  fulfilling  of the duties mentioned in the job description of GEORGESCU EUGEN, created the favorable conditions  for continuing of the activity of  projecting , execution and distribution gas by the defendant SC BERG SISTEM GAZ SA, in the municipality Sighetu Marmatiei, even if the company didn’t meet the minimal necessary  conditions for carrying out of such an activity, which had as immediate  result  the producing of the two  explosions on 19 February 2012 in the municipality Sighetu Marmatiei, followed by the death  of a person and the injury  of 20 persons (12 persons of which are admitted even in this moment in the hospital with burnings of different degrees of severity) and also, it has been destroyed the above mentioned house, among the consequences being also the stopping of electric energy  and gas supply on the two streets, aspect which  blocks the activity of many public institutions.

As the investigations are  going on, we shall inform the public.