My opinion on the poor launch situation of the ONRC

For those who do not understand the situation and what is being discussed, below you will find several published articles that explain the entire situation and its context.

The above articles describe in detail the issue, but in short, ONRC has wasted nearly 40,000,000 EUR of public funds due to poor management, inadequate coordination of the team responsible for the application development (TotalSoft S.A), and in addition to the financial loss, ONRC is not performing better; on the contrary, the launch has negatively impacted professionals, entrepreneurs, and clearly, the employees of the registry.

It is evident that, given the large sums involved, politics was clearly at play, and there seems to be a political tussle (or at least it appears that way) between the PSD, which supports Director Valentina Burdescu, and the PNL (Alina Gorghiu).

It's not necessarily bad that politics got involved, but I am disappointed with the way some have engaged, and I believe that if you follow all the articles, it will become clear who the main culprits appear to be.

I still don't know for sure what resolution to expect, although I have personally taken on significant strategic risks and neglected my company in an attempt to clarify the situation, both the good and the bad.

In short, since I'm having a beer (and I don't have a tolerance for alcohol because I don't drink), and I'm not a fan of unmarked power games, I will explain below what steps I took, why, and what interest I ultimately pursued.

The goal we had in the process

Clearly, I did this with a purpose, because I would have to consider everyone a fool to pretend I had no objective. I believe that the goal is beneficial for all, whether we are talking about ONRC employees, professionals, or those who strive to fight for this country, because there are still many who do.

I am aware that the people reading this material are either professionals, primarily lawyers, or employees from the ONRC (I don't think they care about my history, the traumas, and the issues that have shaped who I am today), or someone from the Ministry or institutions currently investigating the situation at ONRC and perhaps trying to figure out "what game is Stefan Deleanu playing?" and "who is Stefan Deleanu's dog?".

I initially wrote a mini-biography spanning about two pages, but then I deleted everything because I know people don't care and I don't want to bore anyone. Instead, I'll summarize the conclusions:

The company is not on the right track and needs corrections.

Romania is a country cursed by its history to be in a conflict-ridden area, and these situations have impacted our potential to develop, leading to the current situation we find ourselves in.

Communism promoted harsh individualism, malice, cynicism, and now we see the fruits of half a century past in which people have lost trust in strangers, fostering malice and white-collar crime.

When you look down on the company, you see the problems:

1. Everyone fights for themselves, even if it affects others. Being unconscious of the fact that by affecting another person in the community where they live, they are digging their own grave, if not for themselves, then for their children. I don't believe you are providing a good future for your children by teaching them how to tolerate and take advantage of a corrupt system, especially knowing the unpredictability in such a system, because every godfather has his own godfather, and only fools believe they are the best of the best.
2. After the pandemic, societal pressure continued to rise.If we do not take measures to calm the waters, the barrel risks exploding, and the consequences could very well be disastrous for both those in power and those who are vulnerable.
3. People do not understand the mathematical advantages of collaboration.But I don't understand that if everyone fights against each other, we all waste resources unnecessarily to destroy what the other is doing. Instead, why not work together and find solutions that benefit us all? People really don't realize that whatever you want to do, you can't do it alone; you have to do it as a team.

Invite everyone to explore the survivor's dilemma and how it manifests in iterative games. Provide strong arguments for why it is advantageous to be human, to act ethically, and to assist others, even from a self-interested perspective.

Explain how mathematically, each strategy for revenge, etc., does not lead to success, and I hope it provides a certain context and justification for why one should be humane.

The key conclusion is that if you want to achieve something and ensure your well-being, you must fight for a healthy society. A healthy society provides a safety net to fall back on when you face challenges, such as illness or financial downturns. What remains is the social system that society has, which you can help build over time.

Individualization based on the ONRC situation

ONRC has faced (this situation is not new) many problems throughout its existence as an institution, but the ones that persist at the moment are as follows:

1. Although there are fewer than in other public institutions, there are still points of contention between the beneficiary and the provider, between the professional and the public official.According to statistics and statements from professionals, yes, there are still corrupt individuals in business registration offices, individuals who show favoritism, etc.
   
   The problem is that those favors tend to be more like forms of non-penalization, in the sense that people who become more trustworthy are treated normally, as the fear dissipates. And the fear, which is chronic in the public-private relationship, is generated precisely by the toxic environment in the public sector.
   
   When I heard about what was happening inside the ORC and how the situation was being covered up, I naturally intervened. Besides the fact that it is unjust to punish someone for reporting a problem, it is beneficial to eliminate the institutional fear that I hope to see disappear within a decade.
2. The stress of public officials generates institutional inefficiencies: It's not like you can give someone 3000-4000 lei and expect them to perform like a law professor. You can't pay an IT specialist half the market rate, treat them poorly, and expect them to be a top performer in the field.
   
   Regardless of whether you are selfish or not, you must understand that you need high-performing people, and for that, you have to pay them. You can't be surprised that a person is frustrated and indifferent when they lack incentives for serious work.
   
   The employees of ONRC are not cattle; they are people, and most of them seem to be putting in effort during this period. I have had discussions with employees and could hear registrars crying in the background. You cannot treat these people like cattle because as a country, you owe them a lot, especially since they bear the consequences of your mistakes and faults.
3. Acts of corruption and inefficiency must be sanctioned: Besides the fact that it is not good for the company to set an example of corrupt individuals I had relatives who repeatedly presented the theory of corruption as a solution to societal problems, in the sense that it ensures stability. they block institutions and lead to unpleasant situations for everyone.
   
   Besides the fact that ticks drain the blood from a system and force the rest to work harder, I feel we are heading down a very slippery slope, and personally, I don't believe we can endure much longer in our current state.

Ultimately, I have faced several issues with ONRC, most of which have been resolved by now, but since the acceptance of electronic signatures and trust, this topic has been particularly problematic for me. I know that the culprit behind these issues is precisely the toxic system that keeps employees constantly stressed in what they do.

I conclude that the fundamental solution to the problem is not to dispute with ONRC over incorrect solutions, but to alleviate the fear so that people have the courage to undertake unconventional actions as long as the law permits, because unfortunately, when people are afraid, anything different creates obstacles.

Besides the fact that I dislike seeing people treated poorly - it doesn't seem ethical to me, and I wouldn't want to be treated that way myself, I am also aware that their stress and burnout directly affect me. I want to emphasize this for the beneficiaries/professionals who are indifferent to the fact that half of the civil servants might die, as long as their issues are resolved faster, because many do not correlate the well-being of civil servants with their own well-being and that of their clients.

What steps have I taken and what impact have they had?

One week before the launch, I was panicking with a colleague at Incorpo.ro that by the time we launched the product aimed at Romanians, we would have lost a lot of money trying to attract foreign investors to Romania, especially after the tax changes that made Romania uncompetitive.

Recently, most of the people contacting us are those looking to immigrate illegally and money launderers wanting to set up companies through proxies without declaring the real beneficiaries, and we keep rejecting them in droves. Out of 3 applicants, we accept 1, usually the one with less money, which is precisely the reason.

Ultimately, the idea is that we are waiting for the new platform, ONRC v2.0, because we were concerned about the necessity of a platform like Incorpo.ro if the government is doing the same thing. On one hand, I was happy that progress was being made socially, but on the other hand, I was upset that I had to look for a job (I have exhausted all my savings on Incorpo.ro and we are still significantly at a loss).

It has been launched. The first thing I did was to see how it works, and guess what, I found about 3-4 security issues in the first few minutes, aspects that have been better summarized here:

And this is how I entered the discussion about ONRC, identified the issues, and began taking steps to help resolve them.

On the second day of the launch, I was already in touch with MJ, MCID, and DNSC to address the issues. Measures were taken, and it turns out that most of them have been resolved, I could say even the majority. Unfortunately, the employees of ONRC have been sacrificed, but to the beneficiaries' relief, thanks to them, things are now improving.

After completing the respective process and starting to compile statistics on BERC, I also came up with certain ideas regarding the resolution of the crisis, some of which have already been implemented by ONRC (the communications at certain intervals were implemented 1-2 days after my publication, at the request of MJ), and I am certain that MJ reads what I send them and takes it into account, and I hope that what I send will be useful to them.

It has somewhat gone viral, the open letter among professionals, even if not quite to the extent of the data breach story (people want to see sensationalism in the news), but none of the stories have been as viral as the opinions of the whistleblowers from ONRC and TotalSoft who revealed the culture of fear and various abuses that are commonplace in ONRC, which have led to the issues with the project developed by TotalSoft.

What I see now, after a closer analysis (by categories), is that the situation is starting to stabilize, even though it will likely take another month to fully settle. If another issue arises (because there are tensions among ONRC employees, rightly so as they are working very hard without any compensation), it is likely to take longer.

What is the likelihood of a "strike" from employees/their union occurring, and honestly, in my personal opinion, I believe it would be fair for them to organize a protest or submit petitions, especially since if frustrations persist, the next shock could lead ONRC to collapse even worse than it is now.

Human resources require funding, which is typically measured in monetary terms, working conditions, etc. People need to be satisfied with their jobs.

The results and current situation

The essential requests, those important for the beneficiaries, seem to be addressed at a pace similar to the previous one, although the speed per hour appears to have decreased by about 10-15% due to the new platform being more complex and harder to navigate. However, we are discussing an increase in performance from the first week, although we are still significantly behind in registrations, and for delays, we have several weeks or even months to fully recover from the backlog.

Let it be clear, the application is poor, and that money was wasted if you don't donate to various interest groups, because that money should have been for the application rocket, but at least things are stabilizing, as long as nothing major comes up.

It is sadly unfortunate, but it is not normal for employees to bear the burden of issues, and the harsh reality is that I do not see any real rewards being offered by the political sphere for their efforts. This seems neither fair nor beneficial, clearly not for the institution, nor for the employees, and certainly not for the professionals.

When you pursue austerity policies focused on tax collection and generating new businesses, you risk cutting your own throat as a politician / Government.

I find it unacceptable that there is conflict between professionals and employees, which seems completely unproductive and a poor allocation of resources and frustrations that could be directed towards the project manager.

Without wanting to offend, but Ms. Valentina Burdescu, as much as we respected her before this situation and want to learn more, seems to be a full-fledged dictator, and she doesn't even have the competence - she exploits people's fear, made a serious blunder with ONRC v2.0, and regardless of whether the situation will be rectified, she has burned about 10-20 million RON from the national economy, quite casually.

From what I've heard and what the employees from ONRC and ORCT have told me, the union has forwarded the request to the Minister Alina Gorghiu's control body for all evidence regarding the current situation.

Many of the ONRC employees, in shock from the fear of suffering the same fate as their former colleagues who spoke out, remain silent and say nothing. - in the sense that they prefer to create new email accounts and use a VPN, and we are also talking about non-technical people here, rather than revealing any details that could lead to the disclosure of their identity, and if they did not confirm employees whom I identified as who they claim to be, you could say they are just trolls.

I say this falls into the penalty zone, because if this doesn't count, I should be notified to start breaking in too since I'm skilled in infosec, and it wouldn't hurt to deploy some ransomware against public institutions, especially now that white-collar crime has been decriminalized.

Ultimately, the idea is that I still hope the minister's control body will take action even if the situation is largely resolved by September 10, when the actual judgment takes place between Burdescu, the Directors of the ORCTs, and Momeu. I also hope that the minister will take the necessary measures to ensure justice, even if they are difficult and complicated, in order to avoid perpetuating the toxic situation we find ourselves in.

I hope that the people within the ONRC will take action, as they hold the key to a solution, and here I am referring to communication either anonymously or by name at National Integrity Authority's situation regarding the ONRC. There is time, but it needs to be done as quickly as possible.

I had hoped that professionals would not be so toxic, as some of them treat employees poorly until they gain trust, which leads to a form of favoritism. I emphasize the issue of trust between professionals and employees at ONRC, and it is a significant problem. I hope we can find a solution together.

Conclusion

I feel that I no longer have any effective contribution to make to the entire situation, in the sense that all the information worthy of publication has already been published. Indeed, I frequently hear rumors and know additional details, but many of them I cannot disclose precisely because I promised those who informed me, and I keep my promises and do not betray trust.

I'm glad, however, that the situation seems to be on the right track, and hopefully, in a few months, we will return to normalcy.

I cannot deny that I am somewhat scared of the possible repercussions that the Burdescu family might have (because I have been honest and transparent, and unfortunately, my articles cast them in a bad light), and that this could be the final nail in the coffin of the business I have been working on for over two years, but I am satisfied that I have fought for the principles I hold.

I hope that the situation will have a positive outcome, allowing me to point to it as another success in my fight against corruption and abuses, and for better and fairer public institutions.

I am not infallible, and it seems I made a mistake by failing to conduct a category analysis with the latest graphs, as I realized I overlooked that the requests that are pending appear to fall into the category of those that are either not a priority or are no longer processed by the registrar (Although this also has its own legal compliance issues, anyway).

I hope that, overall, the pressures exerted by me, my friends, the professional colleagues who have shown interest in making a difference, and the employees of ONRC who have fought for something better, will have the desired impact.

I greatly appreciate the people who have opened up to me and offered their trust to share the situations they have gone through, and I still believe that their impact has been tremendous.

I wish good luck to those who have to clean up the mess that has been thrown away, whether we are talking about the Minister of Justice, the control body, the territorial directors, or the employees of the institution.

That being said, it's 2:48 AM for me, and I need to go to bed. Thank you!

Updated statistics on the current situation at ONRC (as of 29.08.2024)