Court of Accounts Presidents

1864 – 1875

Alexandru Romalo

He was born in Iaşi, on July 10/22, 1819, being the son of the postelnic Iordache Grigoriade Romalo and his wife Maria, born Roseti. He studied first, in Iaşi, at the Mihăilean Academy, then in Paris where, in 1845, he obtained a degree in Law. Returning to Moldova, he held important positions in the justice and administration fields. During this period, his most important position was that of Minister of State at the Department of Cults and Public Instruction of Moldova (1860). In July 1864, at the proposal of the Electoral Assembly, he was appointed by Ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza president of the High Court of Accounts. Alexandru Romalo played a fundamental role in organizing the new institution and he will keep this position even under the new ruler, Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. The first president of the High Court of Accounts died relatively young, on June 25 / July 7, 1875, being buried at the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest.

1875 – 1893

Emanoil Gradisteanu

He was born in 1821, being the son of the great vornic Grigore Grădişteanu and of Eufrosina, born Rosetti. In 1864 he was appointed judge at the Romanian High Court of Accounts . Following the death of Alexandru Romalo, he served as acting president, and on November 1st 1875, he was appointed president of the High Court of Accounts. In addition to the current activity, Emanoil Grădişteanu published important studies such as the General Indicator of General State Accounting (1877) and the Romanian Financial Code, in two parts (first edition in 1879-1880; second edition in 1886), thus initiating the public's acquaintance with the financial legislation and with the jurisprudence of the High Court of Accounts. Retired from the leadership of this institution in 1893, Emanoil Grădişteanu died in 1895.

1893 – 1909

George I. Lahovary

A member of an important family in nineteenth-century Romania, George I. Lahovary was born on June 1, 1838, in Râmnicu-Vâlcea. At the age of 17 he was sent to study in Germany, in Heidelberg, and then at the Polytechnic School in Karlsruhe. Returning to the country (1862), he worked as an engineer at the Ministry of Public Works, later at the Post and Telegraph Directorate, where he was appointed general manager in 1871. In 1876, G.I. Lahovari was appointed as an advisor to the High Court of Accounts, becoming its president in 1893, a position from which he will contribute to the drafting of the Law on State Accounting, but also on the Law on the Reorganization of the Court of Accounts (1895). With a rich cultural activity, in 1901 he was elected an honorary member of the Romanian Academy. In 1906, George I. Lahovari ended his term as Court of Accounts president .

1909 – 1919

Ion Bălteanu

He was born on 1/13 January 1852, in Târgu-Jiu, being a descendant of an old family of noblemen. After obtaining a degree in Law from the University of Bucharest, he joined the Prosecutor's Office from the Court of Cassation and Justice, and in 1877 he was admitted to the Magistracy. For a quarter of a century, Ion Bălteanu worked in the Romanian justice system : as a judge, president of a County Court (Muscel, Prahova), clerk at the High Court of Cassation and Justice, counselor at the Court of Appeal in Galaţi (1893-1900 ), and in 1900 he was appointed advisor to the Romanian High Court of Accounts. In 1906, he became president of the High Court of Accounts, which he will run responsibly, including during the extremely difficult period of the First World War. Ion Bălteanu died on September 10th 1919, being buried in the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest.

1919 – 1920

M.G. Stoenescu

He was born at the end of the 1850s in a family of old noblemen from Craiova. He attended the Faculty of Law in Bucharest, obtaining a law degree in 1880. Although he came from a wealthy family, during his university studies he was employed as a copyist in the Ministry of Finance, and in 1881 he was appointed Head of Office in this ministry, advancing in all grades and in all possible positions (financial inspector, deputy director in various directions, Director of Customs, Stamp and Registrations), until the position of Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance (1899). In 1904, Mihai G. Stoenescu was appointed advisor to the Romanian Court of Accounts, being president of this institution for several months between 1919-1920. He retired in March 1920.

1920 – 1926

Christu Grecescu

He was born on April 1/13, 1859, in Târgovişte. In 1885 he graduated from the Law Faculty, University of Bucharest. During his studies, he was employed in the Ministry of Finance, initially as a copyist, following, like other presidents of the Court of Accounts, a meritocratic career, built on his own strength. He became a financial inspector in the Ministry of Finance, then director of the General Accounting of the State (1903) and even general secretary (1903-1905). As a result of his long experience, Christu Grecescu was appointed, in 1908, an advisor to the High Court of Accounts, and from April 1920 he was entrusted with the position of president, a dignity he held until the beginning of 1926. In February 1926, Christu Grecescu was appointed National Bank of Romania censor of the shareholders , a mandate renewed in 1934.

1926 – 1929

Ion Angelescu

He was born on February 19 / March 3, 1876 in Băleşti (Vrancea County). He graduated from the School of Finance and the Faculty of Law within the University of Bucharest, working since his student days. Ion Angelescu worked in the Ministry of Finance, starting with the position of second class employee and climbing all hierarchical steps up to the position of Head of State Accounting and Public Debt Directorate and First Class General Director in the Ministry of Finance. At the beginning of the 1920s, Ion Angelescu was appointed advisor to the High Court of Accounts, and in 1926 he became the President of this institution, a dignity he held until 1929. After a short period in Ministry of Finance, Ion Angelescu returned to the High Court of Accounts, being in the 1930s President of Department ( Department IV)

1930 – 1939

Gheorghe Alesseanu

He was born in 1872, in Ploieşti. He first studied politics in Paris, then obtained a law degree at the University of Bucharest, and in 1900 he specialized in economics, becoming a professor at the Higher Commercial School in Bucharest (1903-1923) and later a member of the faculty of Bucharest Commercial Academy (1924-1937). In 1924-1937 he taught as an associate professor at the Commercial Academy in Bucharest, publishing at the same time several papers on topics related to trade, the organization of accounting and commercial correspondence. In parallel, he also worked at the High Court of Accounts, first as an articled clerk, then as an adviser. In May 1930 he was appointed prime-president of the High Court of Accounts, trying to ensure the proper functioning of this institution in the context in which the law of 1929 had expanded the Court's powers by establishing preventive financial control, but on the other hand the general climate in society was not favorable to a full transparency in the administration of public money. In the autumn of 1937 he retired from education and, later, in 1939, from the High Court of Accounts.

1939 – 1943

Zamfir Brătescu

Born in April 1876, in Fleaşca, Brăila County. A graduate in Science (physics and chemistry), but also in Law, he was hired in 1902 at the Ministry of Finance, first as a control agent, and had an ascending career and was appreciated by his superiors. In 1926, from the position of general director at the Ministry of Finance, he was appointed head of the House of Deposits and Consignments. Between 1931 and 1932 he was undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Finance, and in 1932 he was appointed director general of the General Directorate of the Alcohol Monopoly. On October 31st 1933, he became an advisor to the High Court of Accounts, Department president in 1938, and on April 1st 1939 he was appointed its prime-president. During the WW2, he did not agree that the institution should be subordinated to the head of state, Ion Antonescu. He retired in September 1943. However, after the establishment of the communist regime, in 1950, Zamfir Brătescu was arrested and imprisoned in Aiud. He was released in 1955, but died two years later in 1957.

1943 – 1945

Ioan Aronescu

He was born in Câmpulung Muscel on May 22, 1878. After obtaining a degree in Law from the University of Bucharest, he joined the Ministry of Justice in 1910, first as a trainee magistrate. He exercised dignities of great responsibility in the judiciary: president and first president of the court, counselor at the Court of Appeal in Bucharest. In 1938 he was appointed counselor at the High Court of Accounts, and in June 1940 he became president of Department II (with administrative control responsibilities). On September 30, 1943, he was appointed prime-president of the High Court of Accounts, continuing to exercise this function even after the removal of Ion Antonescu from the head of state, a sign of the political equidistance of the institution. As a result of the changes in the retirement law, imposed by the new Petru Groza government in 1945, Ion Aronescu was forced to retire.

1945 – 1947

Grigore Oghină

He was born in 1885, as the son of a teacher from Scopoşeni village, Fălciu county (today Gorban, Iaşi county). In 1909, after obtaining a Law degree from the University of Bucharest, he joined the Ministry of Industry and Commerce as a civil servant, climbing the ranks of the hierarchy to the position of Accounting Department director, followed by a transfer to Ministry of Finance in 1935. In March 1941 he was elected as adviser to the High Court of Accounts, and in September 1943 he was appointed president of Department II. In July 1945, Grigore Oghină held the well-deserved position of prime-president of the Romanian Court of Accounts and remained in this position until the end of 1947, when he retired for medical reasons.

1947 – 1948

Ioan Deleanu

He was born on June 14, 1898, in Pitesti. In 1922, after graduating from the Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, he entered the magistracy, being first assistant judge, later sitting judge and department prosecutor, court president, managing director of the Ministry of Justice, counselor of the Court of Appeal and director (class I) of Penitentiaries and Prevention Institutes. On June 15th 1940, he was appointed advisor to the Romanian High Court of Accounts, from July 30th 1945, taking over the presidency of the Second Department. On December 30th 1947, Ioan Deleanu was appointed prime-president of the Romanian High Court of Accounts. Starting with December 1948, Ioan Deleanu suffered the deprivations of the communist regime, being employed in various positions that did not correspond to his professional training and experience. He died in 1980.

1973 - 1989

Gheorghe Rădulescu

He was born on September 5, 1914, in Bucharest. He graduated from the Academy of Advanced Commercial and Industrial Studies, obtaining the title of doctor in economics. From an early age he joined the left movement, and after taking power by the Communists he held various administrative positions, especially in the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Deputy Minister), becoming a teacher at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and director of the Institute of Economic Research (1954-1956). After a brief fall into political disgrace (1952-1956), he was successively promoted to Minister of Internal Trade, then Trade and Foreign Trade, respectively, and from 1963 to 1973 he served as Vice President of the Council of Ministers. He was a member of the Central Committee of the P.C.R. (1960-1989), and from 1965 to 1989 he was a member of the Executive Political Committee of the C.C. to the P.C.R. During the communist period he was one of the coordinators of the state's financial policy. Gheorghe Rădulescu had the initiative of founding the Superior Court of Financial Control (1973), of which he was president until December 1989, in parallel exercising other functions in the State, such as vice-president of the State Council (1979-1989). He was arrested in December 1989, along with other important members of the P.C.R., released due to illness and died in Bucharest on May 24th 1991.

1993 – 1999

Ioan Bogdan

He was born on August 11, 1933 in Câlnic, Alba County. After high school in Alba Iulia, he graduated from the Faculty of Statistics at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. Starting with 1956, he worked in several economic units in Sibiu, fulfilling various functions as head of service, chief accountant or head of the internal financial control body at the People's Council of Sibiu City. Between 1968-1971 he was group leader at the Sibiu Territorial Control and Revision Directorate of the Ministry of Finance, then financial director and economic director of an industrial plant. In 1973 he joined the banking system, first as deputy director at the Sibiu county branch of the Investment Bank, and in 1983 he was appointed director of the Sibiu branch of the Romanian National Bank. In 1974 he obtained the scientific title of Doctor of Economics. After the revolution of December 1989, he became involved in political life, being elected in May 20th 1990 as deputy of Sibiu on the lists of the National Salvation Front, becoming chairman of the Committee for Budget, Finance and Banking in the Chamber of Deputies. He then joined the Party of Romanian National Unity and in September 1992 was re-elected as deputy. However, he gave up this quality, being appointed president of the re-established Romanian Court of Accounts. He served until 1999. He played a crucial role in organizing the Court of Accounts, helping to assert the independence of this institution. After 1999 he continued to be active as a professor at universities in Sibiu and Bucharest. Ioan Bogdan has been a scientific doctoral supervisor since 1995 and the author of numerous studies on financial-banking management and the activity of the Court of Accounts. In 2007, the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu awarded Professor Ioan Bogdan the title of Doctor Honoris Causa.

1999 – 2002

Ion Condor

He was born on February 15th 1934, in Eriu-Sâncrai, Satu Mare County. In 1957 he graduated from the Law Faculty, University of Cluj. He practiced law in Satu Mare, after which he became a legal advisor. In 1965 he entered the magistracy, being appointed judge in Dâmboviţa County, then he was invested president of the Buftea Court - Ilfov . In 1972 he moved to the Ministry of Finance, where he worked for 16 years as chief legal adviser; since 1978 he has become a permanent national correspondent of the International Bureau for Fiscal Documentation, based in Amsterdam. During 1988-1989 he was chief legal adviser at the House of Savings and Consignments, and after the Revolution of December 1989 he became legal adviser to the Council of the National Salvation Front and, later, to the Chamber of Deputies. In this capacity he had an important role in the elaboration of Law no. 94/1992. Consequently, in 1993 he was appointed as adviser to the Court of Accounts, and after President’s Ioan Bogdan term had ended, on 30th of March 1999, he was appointed by the Parliament as President of that institution. Ioan Condor resigned on September 18th 2001; At the request of Parliament he led the Court until the appointment of his successor, on 14 of February 2002. Ioan Condor has been a doctor of law since 1998 and has published several professional works, both in the country and in Netherlands and United Kingdom. He was actively involved in the development of private higher education, being a professor and dean at the Spiru Haret University. After 2002, Ioan Condor also became the president of a financial consulting company.

2002-2008

Dan Drosu Şaguna

He was born on July 17, 1948, in Pantelimon, Constanţa County. He attended the courses of the Law Faculty within the University of Bucharest and, after graduating in 1973, he was appointed assistant professor at the Department of Public Law. In 1983 he took his PhD in law , becoming a lecturer (1984), associate professor (1991) and university professor (1995). During his university career he carried out a rich scientific and journalistic activity, being the author or co-author of numerous volumes, studies and articles, communications, comments and reviews. After the political changes in December 1989, in addition to teaching at the University of Bucharest, he was active in organizing the new private higher education network in Romania, teaching in several universities and serving as Dean of the Law Faculty from Christian University Dimitrie Cantemir and the Vice-Rector of the Andrei Şaguna University of Constanţa (until 1999). He also became an honorary member of the Triassic Christian University in Leeuwarden (Netherlands) and the Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1993 he was appointed Counselor of Accounts at the Romanian Court of Accounts, and in 1999 he became President of the Jurisdictional Department within the same institution. On February 14th 2002, Dan Drosu Şaguna was appointed President of Court of Accounts, a position he held until October 2008. After 2008, he continued his rich and fruitful university career.

2008 – 2017

Nicolae Văcăroiu

Born on December 5th 1943 in Cetatea Albă, Basarabia, Nicolae Văcăroiu has a degree in economic sciences, awarded by the Academy of Economic Studies, specialisation Finances-Credit, which he graduated in 1969. After graduation, Nicolae Văcăroiu was employed in the position of trainee economist at the State Planning Committee, where he worked until 1990, going through all the hierarchical steps to the position of general manager, specializing in the financial, monetary and prices fields. In 1990, he was part of the scientific team, coordinated by academician Tudorel Postolache, who developed Romania's Reform Strategy in order to ensure the transition to democracy and to the market economy. He served as Deputy Minister of National Economy, then moved to the Ministry of Finance, where he was appointed Secretary of State, Chairman of the State Committee on Prices and later Head of the Taxes and Fees Department, coordinating the tax reform process, preparing the introduction of VAT instead of the tax on the movement of goods (1993). During this period he also started preparatory actions for the introduction of the global tax for individuals. In 1992 he was chairman of the Interministerial Committee on Guarantees and Foreign Trade Credits. In November 1992, he was appointed Prime Minister of Romania, without being a member of any political party, at the proposal of the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR), a public dignity he exercised until December 1996. Nicolae Văcăroiu became a member of the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (later PSD), holding the position of vice-president of the Party. During 1996-1997 he was vice-president of the Romanian Commercial Bank. Between 1996-2000, 2000-2004 and 2004–2008 he was elected Senator of Argeş, holding the position of chairman for the Romanian Senate Privatization Commission (1996-1999), vice-president of the Romanian Senate (1999-2000) and President of the Romanian Senate, during two consecutive terms (2000-2008).

2017 - Prezent

Mihai Busuioc

Mihai Busuioc was born in Bucharest, on May 28th 1974. He graduated from the Law Faculty at Nicolae Titulescu University, Bucharest, in 2002. He began his career as a Land Registry Officer in Land Book Office, District 4 Courthouse, Bucharest (1995-1999), then Principal Land Registry Officer within the same office (1999-2004), continuing his professional promotion within the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration, until the position of General Director and Chairman of the Board (2006-2007, 2009 -2012), as well as Chairman of the National Infrastructure for Spatial Information Board (2009-2012). Subsequently, he successively held the positions of Deputy Secretary General (2014-2016) and Secretary General (2016-2017) within the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration. He continued his professional career holding the position of Secretary General of the Government, and on October 15th 2017 he was appointed, by the Parliament, as President of the Romanian Court of Accounts. Among President’s Mihai Busuioc mandate priorities are topics of interest such as: improving communication and institutional transparency, increasing the quality of audit reports, developing the guidance component in the Court of Accounts, establishing unitary practices at central and local level, implementing an integrated IT system, the introduction of the principle of human resource mobility, as well as active, open and efficient collaboration with the representatives of the audited entities, with the associative structures of the local public administration, with the professional associations in the field of audit, with the academic environment and with the representatives of the civil society.