The financial situation at the Romanian Television Broadcasting Corporation (SRTv) is a new wake up call over the way in which public money is spent. The scandal called for a parliamentary investigation commission being set up to look into the matter at hand. The means by which public opinion learned about SRTv experiencing financial troubles strengthens the perception that Romania is not the place with much accountability when it comes to taxpayers’ money. The scandal erupted on March 1, via the media indeed, the decision makers at the public television hiding that the institution faces some serious financial trouble. Furthermore, the corporation’s general manager, film director Tudor Giurgiu, absolutely denied the revelations made public in “Jurnalul National” newspaper, although failing to come up with viable arguments to contradict the news. At a press conference earlier this week, Giurgiu said that SRTv – the owner of the channels TVR1, TVR2, TVR Cultural and TVR International – “is not broke”.
However, he admitted that the corporation needs “an austerity budget”, that he will proceed with ‘collective’ layoffs’ and he “will propose the subscription tax going up to cover the funds necessary to ensure proper operation’ of the company. Reading between the lines, this means not only that SRTv has serious financial problems, but also that, despite the evidence, exactly like it happened during communist times when dirt was swept under the carpet, the head of public television would not acknowledge that public money has not been spent wisely, to say the least. During the same press conference, Giurgiu put the blame on TVR making no investments and working with equipment that dates back from the 1970s. The natural question that comes to mind is why was it that investments have not been made, what prevented the SRTv management from straightening things out, who this thing would depend or depends on other than the actual management of the company?
This fact also shows a symptom rather widespread in Romania, which is also to be found, unfortunately, in many governmental institutions: the arrogance of those that see themselves in leadership positions, who think they have discretionary power over public money. In a poor country such as Romania, where EUR 100 is a fortune to a pensioner, we have a public television that amassed (in 2006 and the first months of this year) debts and losses of no less than EUR 3 M, an extravagance worthy of an exotic country.
The amount emerged only when the people in charge of the SRTv had to present the real situation when called before the Senators on the Commission for Culture and Arts. Despite being called to provide accurate information over revelations published in the media, Tudor Giurgiu could not offer too many details about those losses, saying he either did not have the figures on him (!?), or it was not his duty, or, pure and simple, he was unaware of the problem. Actually, the figures were presented by the director of the Economic Department of SRTv, Cipriana Voicu, who motivated the company’s failure to pay the broadcasting rights for the matches of the First Football League to Telesport, by saying “January was a difficult month, as contracts with Electrica have expired. What was important was to pay salaries and to make the budget payments.”
The poor explanations prompted commission members to ascertain the need for a parliamentary investigation commission being set up to look into the financial situation at TVR.
The SRTv president somehow admitted that the corporation spent “pretty much” money on buying films and series with a very poor viewer rating, yet he believes them to have been “suitable acquisitions’ nonetheless. One single example is telling in this respect: SRTv paid EUR 1.2 M for a single series, while the market of private television channels in Romania has an impressing portfolio of such like films and series.
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