Mihail Vlasov, removed from the helm of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce

Newsroom 21/03/2014 | 14:39

The Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) has suspended Mihail Vlasov from the position of president, after Vlasov was arrested under suspicion of trading influence. Mihai Daraban, vicepresedint, will fill the position of interim president until March 27.

“The first step was to assure a period of interim leadership, which will be validated on march 27. After this day, the interim mandate can be extended for 30 days after which we can initiate early elections”, according to Daraban, at a press conference held by CCIR.

Daraban and the other vicepresidents claimed they were not aware that Vlasov was taking bribes but they did know he was a gambler.

“We didn’t know he was accepting bribes but we did now he made frequent trips to the casino. It didn’t make sense to ask Vlasov where he gets his money. He owns a law firm, rents houses in Iasi, the CCIR pays him RON 6,000 – 7,000 every month”, according to Ion Mocanu, on of the CCIR vice presidents.

Furthermore, the CCIR leadership said they consider Vlasov innocent until proven guilty and they’re not satisfied nor unsatisfied with his performance as president.

“We are starting from the presumption of innocence, we don’t know where we are at. As far as I understand from the talks with the authorities, they are now at stage of collecting evidence”, Daraban added