The President of the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP), Adrian Țuțuianu, stated that the institution has made public all information allowed by law regarding the donors in President Nicușor Dan’s electoral campaign. He mentioned that there have been numerous requests to reveal their identities, but current legislation limits the level of transparency.
„We have received many requests to disclose the identity of the donors in Mr. Nicuşor Dan’s campaign and we have made public all the data as far as the law allows us. The law should provide total transparency, but that means we need to amend it, Law 334 regarding financing,” said Țuțuianu during a press conference on Friday.
These statements come in the context of the controversy surrounding the financing of the current president's 2025 electoral campaign.
AEP Notified the Prosecutor's Office in 2025
The head of AEP recalled that the institution identified irregularities in the documentation submitted for the reimbursement of campaign expenses.
"In April 2025, the Permanent Electoral Authority found several irregularities in the documentation submitted for reimbursement by the mayoral candidate Nicuşor Dan. Sanctions were then applied, certain amounts were not reimbursed, and the Control Department considered that certain actions could have a criminal connotation, which is why the case was referred from the Control Department to the General Prosecutor's Office," said Țuțuianu.
He specified that since he has been leading the institution, prosecutors have not requested any additional documents in this case.
"We receive document requests from the prosecutors who have been notified on various topics related to multiple parties and candidates. We respond to all of them. (...) In this case, since I have been here, no information has been requested from me," stated the head of AEP.
Online Donations and "Splitting" of Amounts
According to Țuțuianu, the issue raised by AEP concerns the way online donations were made, with some being divided into smaller amounts to avoid notarial formalities.
"The law obliges you, when making a donation, to make an authentic act when it exceeds the value provided by law. (...) Someone who wants to make a donation and avoid going to a notary today donates 200 lei, tomorrow donates 500, meaning they split the amount. AEP considered that such a way of operating alters the provisions of the Civil Code. It is a disguised form of circumventing legal provisions and they were sanctioned accordingly," he said.
When asked about the 100,000 lei donation made by Nicușor Dan's sister during the campaign, Țuțuianu avoided providing details. He explained that as long as there is a criminal complaint, he does not wish to comment publicly on information related to the investigation.
Nicușor Dan: AEP Still Doesn't Understand Online Donations in 2025
President Nicușor Dan reacted two weeks ago to the resurgence of the subject in the public space, stating that it is not about new information, but a reiteration of a situation from April 2025.
He criticized the way institutions interpret the rules regarding the financing of electoral campaigns.
"Regarding the information about AEP's criminal complaint regarding my campaign, this is not new news, but a reiteration of a news story from April 2025. The important issue is not about me, but about the functioning of institutions, which look for missing commas in documents and pretend not to see visible facts from the Moon," wrote Nicușor Dan on Facebook.
The President stated that similar situations occurred in the 2016 and 2020 campaigns as well.
"AEP still doesn't understand online donations in 2025, even though in the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, they imposed the same fines on my team, later overturned by the court, and filed the same criminal complaints, with no consequences," he said.
Controversies Regarding the Financing of the 2025 Campaign
The dispute between AEP and Nicușor Dan began in the spring of 2025 when the electoral authority reported to the General Prosecutor's Office regarding the financing of his electoral campaign.
According to documents analyzed by AEP, some donations were not properly declared, and their total value exceeded 650,000 euros. The Authority suspected irregularities in reporting certain financial contributions, leading to the decision to notify the prosecutors.
At the same time, AEP refused to reimburse a portion of the campaign expenses. Nicușor Dan received a smaller amount from the state than requested, with a difference of approximately one million lei. The President announced that he would challenge the decision in court.
Moreover, the dispute over online donations is not new. In the electoral campaigns of 2016 and 2020, AEP penalized Nicușor Dan's team for the way contributions were collected through digital platforms. In those cases, the sanctions imposed by the authority were later overturned by the courts.
What's Next
Currently, Nicușor Dan is contesting the AEP control report and the decision regarding the reimbursement of expenses administratively and in court.
Adrian Țuțuianu stated that the President filed a prior complaint against the AEP decision in December 2025, but it was rejected. The next step is an action at the Bucharest Court of Appeals, where the electoral institution has not yet received an official summons.