Who is Marcel Ciolacu, the fourth PSD premier nominated by Iohannis: Leader from Buzău emerged suddenly at the centre without any big victory in the elections / Ties with firms that direct money to the press / Hunting with Omar Hayssam / He eliminated most of the convicts from the party

Marcel Ciolacu (55), nominated candidate for Prime Minister, has been PSD President since November 2019. An extremely low-key local leader until 2017, without any notable local victories, Ciolacu had a meteoric rise once he became deputy prime minister in the Tudose government. He then benefited from Liviu Dragnea’s conviction, Viorica Dăncilă’s failure in the presidential election and took control of the PSD. He then distinguished himself by a good collaboration with Klaus Iohannis and PNL during the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ciolacu did not have any victories of his own in the elections: he did not run for either Buzău mayor or Buzău County Council.

Although he was often derided for some difficulties in expressing himself, Ciolacu showed political skill, managing to keep control in a party with extremely strong factions.

He started law school at the Ecological University of Bucharest at the age of 24 (1991-1995), where he also attended post-graduate courses. It is unclear what he did in the period between leaving high school and entering university. In 2008 – 2009 he attended the National Defence College.

Also, the first job on his official CV is dated 2004, when he appears as a legal advisor at the company S.C. Alcom S.R.L. So at 34.

He is a founding member of an association called „Lumina 1879”, together with Vegheș Adrian Sorin, Lazăr Iulian, Tudoroiu Mihail Daniel, Tudor Marius, Lungu Marius. The local press said it was a local Masonic organisation.

Money for the press

G4Media revealed in 2022 that two firms that, since 2020, have received contracts for „press and propaganda services” from the PSD central organisation have multiple links to Buzăul – Marcel Ciolacu’s fiefdom, as well as to Sorina Stan-Docuz, a close associate of the Social Democrat leader.

The first is the street advertising company Look Outdoor SRL, set up in Buzău and run by Roxana Ilie, Sorina-Stan Docuz’s best friend. In 2020, after signing contracts with the PSD, Look Outdoor’s turnover increased 835 times from the previous year. In the 2020 parliamentary elections, Look Outdoor received the biggest contract signed by PSD Buzău for campaign materials.

The second firm is called Vertigo Events SRL, which Ciolacu revealed in an interview with Recorder in mid-September as one of two agencies brokering PSD contracts with websites that provide „feed-back” on party initiatives.

As of February 2020, almost 40% of Vertigo Events’ shares have been taken over by Cezar Batog Bujeniță, a Buzau-born businessman.

Expelled from the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) academy

Marcel Ciolacu was expelled in 2019 from the doctoral studies at the National Academy of Intelligence „Mihai Viteazul” (ANIMV), an institution subordinated to the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI).

„I considered that this is no longer an urgency for me,” Ciolacu told G4media. He justified enrolling in these studies by „the desire of every man to learn”.

Kept the PSD away from justice scandals

One of the dynamics imposed by Ciolacu on the Social Democratic Party was to move away from the image created by Liviu Dragnea, as an opponent of justice. Every time a PSD leader has been in trouble with the judiciary, the party has distanced itself in one form or another.

This happened in the case of the former Minister of Agriculture, Adrian Chesnoiu, or the Baron of Neamt, Ionel Arsene.

Progressive tax rate advocate

Marcel Ciolacu has repeatedly announced that he wants to abolish the current single rate of personal and corporate income tax and replace it with a progressive tax.

He put his plans on hold after the PNL resisted but has remained an advocate of radical tax policy change, advised by Cristian Socol and other left-wing economists.

Political rise

Ciolacu from Buzau has climbed step by step in the party hierarchy. His resume shows that his first political position was that of interim prefect of Buzău in 2005, then executive director of Urbis Serv – a company of Buzău City Hall (2007 – 2008), then deputy mayor (2008-2012). In 2012 he became deputy of Buzău, in 2016 he renewed his mandate, in February 2017 he became leader of the PSD Parliamentary Group in the Chamber of Deputies, with the direct support of Liviu Dragnea. In June 2017, he became Deputy Prime Minister in the Mihai Tudose government, with whom he had a notorious friendship in the PSD. Gabriel Vlase, who later became head of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service(SIE), was also part of the group of friends. After the Tudose government collapsed, Ciolacu became superintendent of the Chamber of Deputies. In May 2019, immediately after Dragnea’s conviction, Ciolacu was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies. A few months later, he forced Viorica Dăncilă’s departure and took over as PSD leader.

Marcel Ciolacu came to public attention in June 2017, when Liviu Dragnea propelled him to the position of deputy prime minister without portfolio in the Tudose government, sent to report on the prime minister’s moves. Ciolacu was already a strong leader in the party, thanks to the results achieved by the Buzău PSD, but also as a result of personal friendly relations with many party bosses.

Dragnea then posted a photo on Facebook showing Ciolacu rowing a boat with the PSD leader. „This weekend, I taught Sorin (Grindeanu – editor’s note) to fish. The big rift between Parliament and the Government took place: I caught 17 pike and he caught 9. I think that’s very good for a beginner who has never picked up a fishing rod before! At the oars, an ecologist: Marcel Ciolacu”, wrote Dragnea in 2017.

Although he was perceived as Dragnea’s man in Mihai Tudose’s government, Marcel Ciolacu ended up practically fraternizing with Prime Minister Tudose. A close relationship developed between the two, and Ciolacu resigned from the government immediately after Tudose, following the crisis between the PM and Liviu Dragnea. As deputy prime minister, he also maintained a balanced relationship with the Cotroceni Palace and the security institutions, the exact opposite of the policy imposed by Liviu Dragnea in the PSD and the government.

He grew up in politics alongside two heavyweights of the PSD in those years: senator Ion Vasile and the former mayor of Buzăului, Constantin Boșcodeală. The photos with Omar Hayssam, the Syrian businessman who was convicted for the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Iraq, date from that period. Photos of the two on the hunt, showing a close relationship between Ciolacu and Hayssam, leaked to the press in the 2000s.

„It’s a photo given by a colleague of mine, Mr Adrian Mocanu, MP. I have nothing to apologise for. It is a revenge, I announced that I would run for president of the PSD Buzău organization, I understand that he wanted too. It’s a cheap piece of crap,” Ciolacu told Gândul.info in 2015.

Wealth

Ciolacu owns two plots of land and two houses in Buzău, according to his wealth statement. He has almost 100,000 lei and 35,000 euros in his accounts, has granted a 490,000 lei loan to his nephew Mihai Cristian Ciolacu and has four loans with Banca Transilvania.

In 2021, he and his wife declared dividends of 651,000 lei from Lucia Com 94 SRL.

He is a partner in two companies, according to his declaration of interests: Alcom SRL and Lucia Com 94 SRL.