Key Move for Romania’s PM. Brings in the Government a Sorbonne-Educated economist

Mihai Precup has been appointed Secretary of State within the Prime Minister’s Chancellery. Precup (37 years old) holds a Ph.D. in private equity from the Sorbonne University in Paris, where he also provided courses in Monetary Policies and Private Equity for five years, notes Antena 3 CNN. From the spring of 2022 until now, Precup was Secretary of State at Romania’s Ministry of Finance.

Precup recently explained publicly why the private equity sector in Romania remains emergent in comparison to other countries in Europe.

“The main challenge for the private equity funds and for the local industry is the underdeveloped Romania’s stock market. An investment fund, when considering an investment, evaluates its opportunities for exit from target companies” said Mihai Precup on Ziarul Financiar.

Precup has also recently made statements regarding the long-awaited establishment of Romania’s Investment and Development Bank, and it appears that his name will continue to be closely associated with this project.

“Since 2012, there have been talks about this bank. Even back then, when I was working at the European Investment Bank, we were making a lobby around the Romanian government to establish it. We saw that all countries in Europe had a development bank, except us. The government I am a part of now is the first one to decide to materialize it,” adds Precup.

Precup explains the importance of such a bank—it is the missing link between the funds of International Financial Institutions and Romania’s strategic investment projects. “The role of the bank is to create financial instruments that align with bankable projects that the country needs the most. Therefore, the funds coming into the country could transform into tangible things and real infrastructure that will improve the lives of Romanians,” he declared in May to Financial Intelligence news site.