RomLibAmbiguitatile legii lui Stoica 6088.doc

Ambiguities in Stoica's Law favor the former Communist Elite

Political Opportunists Will Live in Stolen Homes for the Rest of Their Lives

Because the proposed law sponsored by Valeriu Stoica relating to the protection of tenants is ambiguous and does not clarify some important legal aspects, one of the outcomes of this legal proposal could be that many former communists rulers will remain for life in the handsome villas of the elite Primaverii quarter in the Romanian capital city Bucharest. These persons are all former high members of the Romanian Communist Party.

Confusion in the proposed law allows for unfavorable interpretations of the property right

The proposed law maintains from the very beginning that the former owners must comply with the lease contracts between the tenants and the commercial agents which administer the dwellings (in the case of the Bucharest homes of the Primaverii quarter the administrative body of the homes is the Department for Protocol and State Possessions). This aspect of the proposed law is applicable to all dwellings obtained through "irreversible court decisions or through the decision of the district commission responsible for the implementation of the Law No. 112/1995 for the legal settling of the situation of some dwellings which were transferred into the ownership of the state" (but how where these dwellings transferred into the property of the state?). The proposed law also maintains that the present tenants may live for the rest of their lives in these confiscated homes if they are age 65 or older at the time the restitution of the dwelling would occur. It must be noted that the tenants obtained the leases to these dwellings only due to their former political position in the Communist Government of Romania.

It should be also noted that the Valeriu Stoica proposal does not clearly specify which leases are affected by his law proposal: those between tenants and ICRAL, RA-APPS or other commercial agents responsible for the administration of these dwellings. ... This is why the law proposal made by the present Minister of Justice Valeriu Stoica allows the inclusion into the same general category of all dwellings, even those previously confiscated to be used as dwellings for protocol. The monthly payments for these spacious dwellings made by the present tenants to the RA-APPS administration are symbolical and range from a few hundred lei to a few thousand lei (which is the equivalent of a few cents or a few dollars).

It is well known that the majority of villas and properties in the Primaverii quarter are being claimed by their rightful owners. The unfortunate consequence of this new proposal regarding confiscated property in Romania is the fact that even if the rightful owners or their heirs have regained their properties they cannot repossess them because the Stoica proposal comes to protect the tenants over the age of 65. Given the fact that these former Communist Rulers enjoyed a very good life style their health is in very good shape and consequently they will occupy these protocol dwellings for another 10 to 20 years.

Spacious dwellings, tenants age over 65 ...

We have compiled a short list of present day tenants who live in the elite Primaverii quarter in Bucharest. One can recognize prominent names of the former Communist Regime. These tenants enjoy elegant dwellings at present and will do so in the future because of the Justice Minister's law proposal.

Cornel Burtica (strada Crangului nr. 13; 154,14 square meters) - 67 years of age;
Marin Capizisu (strada Crangului nr. 1; 163,01 square meters) - 66 years of age;
Vasile Musat (strada Arcului nr. 14; 130,14 square meters) - 70 years of age;
Vasile Mihai (strada Arghezi nr. 32; 138,28 square meters) -64 years of age;
Alexandru Kopandi (strada Popa Soare nr. 14; 95,42 square meters) - 71 years of age;
Costache Zmeu (strada Cpt. Preotescu nr. 29; 97,83 square meters)- 65 years of age;
Constantin Manea (strada Muzeul Zambaccian nr. 27; 120,13 sq. meters) - age 72;
Constantin Radu (strada Ermil Pangratti nr. 25; 149,67 square meters) - 66 years of age;
Ion Folea (Bulevardul Aviatorilor nr. 58, suprafata neprecizata) - 65 years of age;
Ion Cumpanasu (strada Ciprian Porumbescu nr. 6; 108,53 square meters) - age 70;
Mihail Florescu (strada Grigore Mora nr. 13; 284,56 square meters) - 80 years of age;
Virgil Cazacu (strada Ana Davila nr. 14, 123,36 square meters) - 66 years of age;
Mihail Paraschiv (strada Poenaru Bordea nr. 6; 91,97 square meters) - 66 years of age;
Iulian Vlad (strada Braziliei nr. 1-3; 79,77 square meters) - 70 years of age;
Stefan Andrei (strada Berna nr. 7, 215,88 square meters) - 67 years of age;
Rusiraru Ioan (strada Av. Sanatescu nr. 8; 156,75 square meters) - 68 years of age;
Gheorghe Gomoiu (strada Praga nr. 2; 187,26 square meters) - 69 years of age;
Elena Nae (strada Helesteului nr. 5; 85,38 square meters) - 65 years of age;
Ilie Casu (strada Bitolia nr. 51; 125,53 square meters) - 65 years of age;
Gheorghe Apostol (strada Barbu Delavrancea nr. 29; 127,59 square meters) - age 86;
Vasile Bulucea (strada Radu Boiangiu nr. 15-17; 103,75 square meters) - 68 years of age;
Ion Ursu (strada Iuliu Tetrat nr. 26; 142,48 square meters) - 70 years of age;
Maxim Berghianu (Bd. Aviatorilor nr. 70; 205,78 square meters) 67 years of age;
Ilie Ceausescu (strada Bruxelles nr. 3; 198,48 square meters) - 75 years of age;
Silviu Brucan (strada Helesteului nr. 26; 130,81 square meters) - 76 years of age;
Niculescu Paul (strada Emil Zola nr. 2; 317,32 square meters) - 73 years of age;
Tamara Dobrin (strada Av. Teodor Iliescu nr. 44; 166,56 square meters) - 75 years of age;
Oliviu Gherman (soseaua Kiseleff nr. 20; 225,29 square meters) - 66 years of age;
Corneliu Manescu (soseaua Kiseleff nr. 24; 173,78 square meters) - 84 years of age;
Mircea Malita (soseaua Kiseleff nr. 24; 137,72 square meters) - 71 years of age;
Nicolae Plesita (strada Pictor Negulici nr. 32; 184,44 square meters) - 70 years of age;
Vasile Ionel (strada Barbu Delavrancea nr. 49; 404,03 square meters) - 69 years of age;.

A Situation Which Might Become Explosive

If we consider the case of some of the tenants mentioned before who live in the Bucharest quarter Primaverii administered by RA-APPS or others who live in other parts of the Capital or other Romanian cities, the situation is very serious.

It is interesting to observe what the decision of the administrative bodies RA-APPS and others will be. Will they extend the leases with the present tenants or not? As a matter of fact this point of the proposed law is also confusing. It does not explain clearly which leases will be extended for a period of 5 years or for life even after the court rules in favor of the former owners.

Simion Popa
Romania Libera, June 8, 1998
Translation by Angela Maior
Note: 1 square meters is approximately 10 square feet