In the context of drastic budget cuts in Romania, we learn about a record obtained by a state employee, who received a retirement bonus of 100,000 euros!
This concerns a director from Romsilva (the National Forest Administration), and the information was first revealed by the Minister of Environment, Mircea Fechet, on Digi24.
Later, Antena3 obtained confirmation from Romsilva and learned from sources that the lucky beneficiary is Teodor Țigan, former chief of the Arad Silvica Directorate, who was also the general director of Romsilva between 2020 and 2022.
How this colossal sum was reached was explained by Minister Fechet himself:
"In the collective labor agreement, it was agreed that upon retirement, you receive 10 gross salaries, taken in net amount. There are individuals in the National Forest Administration Romsilva who, upon retirement, according to the legally discussed collective labor agreement with the union, the board of directors, the executive management, but in accordance with that collective labor agreement, that person, upon retirement, received 500,000 lei (100.000 euros)."
"In the collective labor agreement, after lengthy negotiations between the union and the executive management of the National Forest Administration, it was agreed that upon retirement, you receive 10 salaries. This also happens in other administrations. You receive one, you receive two, you receive nine. What is even more hallucinating is the fact that those 10 salaries, if I quote from memory the respective formulation: 10 gross salaries taken in net amount. And I said: you could have said 20 salaries, at least we would have been discussing honestly with each other. How can you say 10 gross salaries taken in net amount? I requested a week ago the list of these benefits obtained by former employees of the administration."
The National Forest Administration confirmed that employees used to receive a bonus "between 2 and 10 gross salaries" at the time of retirement, calculated based on their seniority in the institution. As of January 1, 2025, these bonuses have been canceled thanks to a Government ordinance.
Sources cited by Antena3 state that the majority of retirement bonuses in Romsilva are between 20,000 - 30,000 lei.
Here is the official communication from the Forest Administration:
"According to the current legislation, namely the Forestry Personnel Statute, forestry personnel receive a gratuity at the time of retirement, equal to a minimum of 5 times the gross salary for the last month of activity, borne by the employer.
The legal provision, mandatory, was transposed into the Collective Labor Agreement following negotiations with the forestry unions, providing, at the time of retirement, a bonus between 2 and 10 gross salaries, depending on the seniority within the National Forest Administration – Romsilva".
The administration specifies that "the beneficiary pays, for these amounts, all taxes, legal fees, and contributions, like any other salary income".
In these circumstances, on Friday, the Silva Forestry Union Federation announces that it will support a new protest in Victory Square, at the Government headquarters. Dissatisfactions are related to the Government ordinance.