Valentina Burdescu, dismissed from the position of Director of the ONRC
We analyze the publication through which the Ministry of Justice communicated to the public the dismissal of the director, the preliminary measures taken to address the issues affecting the institution, and finally, the interim director.
Imagine a caricature depicting the dismissal of Ms. Valentina Burdescu, found guilty of overseeing the digitalization of the National Trade Register Office, thus responsible for millions of euros in damages to the Romanian state.
Valentina Burdescu, dismissed from the position of Director of the ONRC
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This article represents an op-ed, expressing the author's personal opinion rather than that of the editorial team.
The original is in Romanian, translations into other languages are done automatically and may present differences.
We recommend that readers discover the full story below, following the sequence of articles that, along with those from other mass media channels, led to the notification of the oversight body.
An open letter requesting transparency from ONRC, and promoting a series of proposals that could lead to a quicker resolution of the ONRC issue - From August 9, 2024
The opinions of ONRC employees, who express their frustrations and report the abuses caused by General Director Valentina Burdescu, have led to key issues that resulted in institutional collapse. - From August 19, 2024, the same day the Ministry of Justice reported to the control body.
The National Trade Register Office, an institution under the Ministry of Justice, is constantly focused on improving collaboration with the business environment and professionals.
The process of digitizing the services provided by the National Trade Register Office (O.N.R.C.) means: increasing the usage of e-government services, modernizing, and streamlining the internal activities and workflows of the O.N.R.C.
The message reiterates that the ONRC should be interested in digitalization and the improvement of services, as this is the real prerogative it exercises. Although this has not materialized, the statement begins softly, likely to avoid generating too much bias.
The Ministry of Justice's requests for transparency, ignored by the former management.
In recent weeks, the Minister of Justice has requested the institution's leadership to maintain constant and transparent communication with the business environment, professionals, and representatives of other institutions to resolve as quickly as possible the deficiencies generated by the implementation of the new IT system.
Additionally, the Minister of Justice requested the leadership of the O.N.R.C. to organize weekly meetings with the directors of the territorial offices. Such a meeting took place on Tuesday, September 10 of this year. During this meeting, solutions were identified to overcome this transitional period.The Ministry of Justice assured the directors of the territorial offices of its full support in resolving the encountered issues.within the limits of the Ministry of Justice's responsibilities.
The message confirms that ONRC has been instructed to be more transparent regarding issues affecting the platform, and notes that although this has been requested from the ONRC management, it has not materialized.
On the contrary, the ONRC has taken measures to discourage press notifications, and most alarmingly, to prevent notifications to the regulatory bodies within the institution. From encouraging phone calls to avoid adding errors in the project management platform, to threatening individuals who have made public statements or expressed their opinions on Facebook (e.g., on the ONRC union group).
Many employees lacked the courage to report misconduct or managerial errors to the oversight body, which had to exert unnecessary additional efforts in a normal institutional context.
Several individuals confirmed to Incorpo.ro that in the meeting on September 10, the Ministry of Justice encouraged territorial directors to express their frustrations and grievances, which led to their reporting in a relaxed and transparent manner.
We appreciate that the intervention of the Minister of Justice was essential in determining a transparent and direct response, and the decision to reiterate support for transparency had a major positive impact.
Proposed emergency ordinance by the Ministry of Justice, adopted in the Government meeting on Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Additionally, the Ministry of Justice has initiated an Emergency Ordinance, adopted in the Government meeting on Wednesday, September 11 of this year. This will allocate a greater number of personnel to resolve the cases registered with the O.N.R.C. The first measure proposed by the Emergency Ordinance is the reclassification of legal advisors to registrar positions through an internal procedure, considering that there are 46 vacant registrar positions at the O.N.R.C. and its offices across the country. The second measure proposes that personnel in leadership positions exercise the duties of a registrar.
As for the emergency ordinance that will allow the transfer of several individuals to the responsibilities of the Registrar, the idea is still timely, but it has been criticized by employees of the ONRC in various positions.
It is worth mentioning, and possibly overlooked by them, that:
The only position within the institution that is regulated by law is that of Registrar and Director.. It cannot be modified by a decision of the institution's director, or as an internal regulation by the Ministry of Justice; therefore, it is necessary to issue an emergency ordinance, as other measures can be easily promoted, even under the exclusive signature of the Minister of Justice.
The strategy allows, among other things:
A better remuneration of the legal framework within the institution, which can participate in resolving requests and would have much more experience than new employees, recent graduates of the exams for positions.
A better allocation of institutional human resources to address deficits in certain areas - specifically in the registration field.
So the conclusion is that the decision is a good one, and we consider an emergency ordinance on this matter to be timely and welcome.
Probably, the proposed and recently adopted emergency ordinance is an example of an ordinance that is truly necessary and of genuine urgency, a rare phenomenon in legislative practice that often abuses the institution of emergency ordinances.
The Minister of Justice's control body, notified due to media pressures
At the same time, the Minister of Justice, Alina Gorghiu, has ordered the Minister's Control Body to conduct an audit at the O.N.R.C, starting from August 19, 2024. This action was taken in the context of public discussions regarding certain issues in the operation of the new IT system of the O.N.R.C.
The Control Body's report found that there was poor management at the level of the O.N.R.C. leadership. Specifically, the decision to put the new system into production on July 26, 2024, as well as the suspension of O.N.R.C. activities and territorial offices from July 16 to 25, was made exclusively by the General Director/Project Manager Valentina Burdescu, without consulting the staff of O.N.R.C. and the territorial offices.
We specify that the General Director of the O.N.R.C. was appointed project manager for the project regarding the new O.N.R.C. system on October 29, 2018.
The conclusions of the Control Body's report indicate that decisions regarding the manner and timing of the implementation of the new IT system, as well as insufficient testing of the software application, have led to dysfunctions in the institution's operations.
Regarding the communication of the ONRC leadership with the business environment and citizens, it has been severely lacking.
The control body was empowered once our articles appeared in the public space, alongside intense debates in professional groups, as well as numerous articles from Economedia, Hotnews, etc.
We are pleased that our efforts have materialized into measures, and that they are now capable of accelerating the resolution of issues affecting the ONRC's operations.
The findings of the control body, although described in limited terms, once again confirm that the ONRC has suffered from severely flawed management, which did not consult with the institution's experts. This has led to the development of an application incapable of improving the institution's administrative flow, thereby causing significant damage to the business environment that relies on the ONRC to operate.
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We will submit a request for an anonymized version of the audit body's conclusions, drafted with respect to the information not intended for public disclosure.
The dismissal of Ms. Director Valentina Burdescu and the appointment of Ms. Luiza Mardare as the new interim director of ONRC
Considering the conclusions of the Control Body report, the Minister of Justice has ordered, today, September 12, 2024, the dismissal of the General Director of the National Trade Register Office, Valentina Burdescu. At the same time, the Minister of Justice has appointed Ms. Luiza Mardare as the new General Director of the National Trade Register Office. She is an experienced leader, having served as the director of the ORCT ConstanΘa, and is familiar with the newly implemented system. She has a broad vision for the internal organization of the institution.
The Ministry of Justice respects the business environment and the professionals in the field. We are seeking the best solutions to quickly overcome the inconveniences encountered during this period. We are confident that the issues identified in the implementation of the new IT system will be resolved as swiftly as possible.
The Ministry of Justice has therefore taken the measure to dismiss Ms. Valentina Burdescu, a prudent and necessary decision to de-escalate the situation, encourage transparency and collaboration among employees, and the first step towards dismantling the vicious structure within the ONRC.
Now, it is the role of the new director, Ms. Luiza Mardare, to take the necessary measures for:
Sanctioning employees who facilitated the former director in the decisions madesince those individuals benefited from the precarious decisions made in the project, to its detriment.
Conducting an After Action Reviewto identify the outcomes of the crisis response during Ms. Burdescu's tenure as Director, and how it either exacerbated or mitigated the impact caused by the platform's precarious launch.
Collaboration with ORCT employees in identifying solutions to stop the wave of resignations within the institution.to reassure employees of their protection by the ONRC management, and to encourage transparency regarding identified issues.
Conclusion and final viewpoint
The dismissal of the former director is not a solution in itself, but it is a necessary measure, given that alternatively, the chances of the former management fighting to clarify the issues generated by it, which carry criminal implications if made public or reach the prosecuting authority, were nonexistent.
Now, with a new director at the helm of the institution, we can hope that its decisions will help identify the issues that led to the crisis, and furthermore, propose transparent and straightforward solutions to rectify these problems.
We hope that by September 30, 2024, the issues with the commercial register will be largely resolved, allowing people to gradually build their trust in the commercial register as a professional and reliable institution.
We will return with an article regarding the audit report as soon as we receive it, and we invite you to subscribe to our new publications.
Valentina Burdescu, dismissed from the position of Director of the ONRC
We analyze the publication through which the Ministry of Justice communicated to the public the dismissal of the director, the preliminary measures taken to address the issues affecting the institution, and finally, the interim director.
β Stefan-Lucian Deleanu
Valentina Burdescu, dismissed from the position of Director of the ONRC
The original is in Romanian, translations into other languages are done automatically and may present differences.
We recommend that readers discover the full story below, following the sequence of articles that, along with those from other mass media channels, led to the notification of the oversight body.
Date report to ONRC v2.0 - Reported on August 4, 2024
An open letter requesting transparency from ONRC, and promoting a series of proposals that could lead to a quicker resolution of the ONRC issue - From August 9, 2024
The opinions of ONRC employees, who express their frustrations and report the abuses caused by General Director Valentina Burdescu, have led to key issues that resulted in institutional collapse. - From August 19, 2024, the same day the Ministry of Justice reported to the control body.
Analysis press release of the Ministry of Justice dated September 12, 2024
The message reiterates that the ONRC should be interested in digitalization and the improvement of services, as this is the real prerogative it exercises. Although this has not materialized, the statement begins softly, likely to avoid generating too much bias.
The Ministry of Justice's requests for transparency, ignored by the former management.
The message confirms that ONRC has been instructed to be more transparent regarding issues affecting the platform, and notes that although this has been requested from the ONRC management, it has not materialized.
On the contrary, the ONRC has taken measures to discourage press notifications, and most alarmingly, to prevent notifications to the regulatory bodies within the institution. From encouraging phone calls to avoid adding errors in the project management platform, to threatening individuals who have made public statements or expressed their opinions on Facebook (e.g., on the ONRC union group).
Many employees lacked the courage to report misconduct or managerial errors to the oversight body, which had to exert unnecessary additional efforts in a normal institutional context.
Several individuals confirmed to Incorpo.ro that in the meeting on September 10, the Ministry of Justice encouraged territorial directors to express their frustrations and grievances, which led to their reporting in a relaxed and transparent manner.
We appreciate that the intervention of the Minister of Justice was essential in determining a transparent and direct response, and the decision to reiterate support for transparency had a major positive impact.
Proposed emergency ordinance by the Ministry of Justice, adopted in the Government meeting on Wednesday, September 11, 2024
As for the emergency ordinance that will allow the transfer of several individuals to the responsibilities of the Registrar, the idea is still timely, but it has been criticized by employees of the ONRC in various positions.
It is worth mentioning, and possibly overlooked by them, that:
So the conclusion is that the decision is a good one, and we consider an emergency ordinance on this matter to be timely and welcome.
Probably, the proposed and recently adopted emergency ordinance is an example of an ordinance that is truly necessary and of genuine urgency, a rare phenomenon in legislative practice that often abuses the institution of emergency ordinances.
The Minister of Justice's control body, notified due to media pressures
The control body was empowered once our articles appeared in the public space, alongside intense debates in professional groups, as well as numerous articles from Economedia, Hotnews, etc.
We are pleased that our efforts have materialized into measures, and that they are now capable of accelerating the resolution of issues affecting the ONRC's operations.
The findings of the control body, although described in limited terms, once again confirm that the ONRC has suffered from severely flawed management, which did not consult with the institution's experts. This has led to the development of an application incapable of improving the institution's administrative flow, thereby causing significant damage to the business environment that relies on the ONRC to operate.
The dismissal of Ms. Director Valentina Burdescu and the appointment of Ms. Luiza Mardare as the new interim director of ONRC
The Ministry of Justice has therefore taken the measure to dismiss Ms. Valentina Burdescu, a prudent and necessary decision to de-escalate the situation, encourage transparency and collaboration among employees, and the first step towards dismantling the vicious structure within the ONRC.
Now, it is the role of the new director, Ms. Luiza Mardare, to take the necessary measures for:
Conclusion and final viewpoint
The dismissal of the former director is not a solution in itself, but it is a necessary measure, given that alternatively, the chances of the former management fighting to clarify the issues generated by it, which carry criminal implications if made public or reach the prosecuting authority, were nonexistent.
Now, with a new director at the helm of the institution, we can hope that its decisions will help identify the issues that led to the crisis, and furthermore, propose transparent and straightforward solutions to rectify these problems.
We hope that by September 30, 2024, the issues with the commercial register will be largely resolved, allowing people to gradually build their trust in the commercial register as a professional and reliable institution.
We will return with an article regarding the audit report as soon as we receive it, and we invite you to subscribe to our new publications.
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