Attila Verestóy
Encyclopedia
Attila Verestóy is a Romania
n chemical engineer and politician. A member of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
(UDMR), he has been a member of the Romanian Senate
for Harghita County
since 1990.
parents in Odorheiu Secuiesc
and completed secondary studies at the town's Petru Groza Theoretical High School (now called Tamási Áron). In 1972, he enrolled at the Politehnica University of Bucharest, graduating from the Chemical Technology Faculty six years later. He then enrolled in a master's programme in Chemical Engineering at the same institution, and in 1999 earned a doctorate in Chemistry from Politehnica, specialising in inorganic chemistry
and environmental protection.
From 1978 to 1979, he worked at a factory in Gheorgheni
, followed by a stint as engineer at a factory in his hometown from 1979 until the following year. From 1980 to 1983, he was a lecturer at his alma mater's Industrial Chemistry Faculty. From 1983 to 1989, he was a scientific researcher at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry Research in Bucharest, advancing to chief scientific researcher in 1989. Verestóy has over 60 scientific works, has presented at conferences and congresses, and has co-authored three books on chemical engineering and environmental protection. He has also published articles about security policy.
According to Verestóy, his activities during the 1980s under the Communist regime
drew the attention of the Securitate
secret police. After attempting to contact the head of an association in Hungary
, his participation in any international programme was forbidden. Although his merit scholarship for studying abroad was approved by a reviewing committee, the Securitate vetoed the initiative. Later, together with a friend, he established contact with diplomats at the Hungarian embassy in Bucharest, and with their help obtained Hungarian-language
mass-media materials to be distributed in Transylvania
. During 1989, he was placed under surveillance and his telephones were tapped
; ultimately, he was dismissed from his teaching position. When the Romanian Revolution of 1989
broke out, he joined the uprising a day before the overthrow of Nicolae Ceauşescu
, and helped found the UDMR in the following days.
Verestóy entered politics following the Revolution, serving in January 1990 as an adviser to the National Salvation Front and a member of the group of advisers to Károly Király, one of the Front's vice presidents. From February to May of that year, he belonged to the Provisional National Unity Council and was the president of its minorities committee. Elected senator in May 1990, he was re-elected in 1992, 1996
, 2000
, 2004
and 2008
. He has held various positions and committee assignments within the Senate: member (1990-1992; 2008-), secretary (1992) and quaestor (2010-) of the permanent bureau; defence, public order and national security committee (1993-1996); culture, art and mass media committee (1992-1996); public health committee (1996-1997); committee for investigating abuses, combating corruption and petitions (2000-2001; 2004-2005); joint committee providing oversight to the activities of Serviciul Român de Informaţii
(since 2000); joint committee of 1989 revolutionaries (2004); equal opportunity committee (2008-2009). From 1992 to 2008, he was leader of the UDMR's parliamentary delegation. Also, from 1997 to 2007, he headed the UDMR chapter based in Odorheiu Secuiesc.
As of 2009, Verestóy is the third-wealthiest Romanian politician, with holdings of €
100 million, down from €250 million a year earlier, with losses due to the recession. Nicknamed the "logging king", he has significant investments in the wood industry; it was there that he began to build up his wealth, and he has been dubbed an "oligarch
of the transition
" by President
Traian Băsescu
. Other companies in which he holds a substantial amount of shares are Transgaz
and Rompetrol
. As of 2007, he owned three apartments he built in Bucharest that year, an older apartment in the capital and one in Odorheiu Secuiesc, and a vacation house in Ilfov County
. That year, prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate
investigated him for allegedly earning €10 million from transactions involving a regional investment fund that he had made as a result of information obtained due to his parliamentary office, but decided not to indict him.
Verestóy runs a charitable foundation and is president of the Odorhei Handball Club. He and his wife have one son.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n chemical engineer and politician. A member of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, is the main political organisation representing the ethnic Hungarians of Romania....
(UDMR), he has been a member of the Romanian Senate
Senate of Romania
The Senate of Romania is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 137 seats , to which members are elected by direct popular vote, using Mixed member proportional representation in 42 electoral districts , to serve four-year terms.-Former location:After the Romanian...
for Harghita County
Harghita County
Harghita is a county in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea-Ciuc.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 326,222 and a population density of 52/km².*Hungarians- 85%...
since 1990.
Biography
He was born to ethnic HungarianHungarians in Romania
The Hungarian minority of Romania is the largest ethnic minority in Romania, consisting of 1,431,807 people and making up 6.6% of the total population, according to the 2002 census....
parents in Odorheiu Secuiesc
Odorheiu Secuiesc
Odorheiu Secuiesc is the second-largest city in Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania. In its short form, it is also known as Odorhei in Romanian and Udvarhely in Hungarian...
and completed secondary studies at the town's Petru Groza Theoretical High School (now called Tamási Áron). In 1972, he enrolled at the Politehnica University of Bucharest, graduating from the Chemical Technology Faculty six years later. He then enrolled in a master's programme in Chemical Engineering at the same institution, and in 1999 earned a doctorate in Chemistry from Politehnica, specialising in inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry
Inorganic chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds. This field covers all chemical compounds except the myriad organic compounds , which are the subjects of organic chemistry...
and environmental protection.
From 1978 to 1979, he worked at a factory in Gheorgheni
Gheorgheni
Gheorgheni is a city in Harghita County, Romania.It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. The city administers four villages:*Covacipeter / Kovácspéter*Lacu Roşu / Gyilkostó*Vargatac / Vargatag*Visafolio / Visszafolyó...
, followed by a stint as engineer at a factory in his hometown from 1979 until the following year. From 1980 to 1983, he was a lecturer at his alma mater's Industrial Chemistry Faculty. From 1983 to 1989, he was a scientific researcher at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry Research in Bucharest, advancing to chief scientific researcher in 1989. Verestóy has over 60 scientific works, has presented at conferences and congresses, and has co-authored three books on chemical engineering and environmental protection. He has also published articles about security policy.
According to Verestóy, his activities during the 1980s under the Communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
drew the attention of the Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
secret police. After attempting to contact the head of an association in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, his participation in any international programme was forbidden. Although his merit scholarship for studying abroad was approved by a reviewing committee, the Securitate vetoed the initiative. Later, together with a friend, he established contact with diplomats at the Hungarian embassy in Bucharest, and with their help obtained Hungarian-language
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
mass-media materials to be distributed in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. During 1989, he was placed under surveillance and his telephones were tapped
Telephone tapping in the Eastern Bloc
Telephone tapping in the countries of the Eastern Bloc was a widespread method of the mass surveillance of the population by the secret police.-History:...
; ultimately, he was dismissed from his teaching position. When the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
broke out, he joined the uprising a day before the overthrow of Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
, and helped found the UDMR in the following days.
Verestóy entered politics following the Revolution, serving in January 1990 as an adviser to the National Salvation Front and a member of the group of advisers to Károly Király, one of the Front's vice presidents. From February to May of that year, he belonged to the Provisional National Unity Council and was the president of its minorities committee. Elected senator in May 1990, he was re-elected in 1992, 1996
Romanian legislative election, 1996
Legislative elections were held in Romania on 3 November 1996, together with the Presidential election. The elections were won by the Romanian Democratic Convention, an alliance of liberal, Christian Democratic and green parties. This marked the first time that the Party of Social Democracy was out...
, 2000
Romanian legislative election, 2000
Legislative elections where be held in Romania on November 26, 2000, together with the Presidential election. The Greater Romania Party made big gains, as did the PDSR, which became the ruling party. The formerly governing Romanian Democratic Convention lost all its seats and was shortly...
, 2004
Romanian legislative election, 2004
The Romanian legislative election of 2004 was held on 28 November 2004. 137 seats in the Senate of Romania and 314 seats in the Chamber of Deputies were up for election.The 2004 legislative election was held simultaneously with the presidential election...
and 2008
Romanian legislative election, 2008
Legislative elections were held in Romania on November 30, 2008. The Democratic Liberal Party won most seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, although the alliance headed by the Social Democratic Party won a fractionally higher vote share.-Electoral System:President Traian Băsescu...
. He has held various positions and committee assignments within the Senate: member (1990-1992; 2008-), secretary (1992) and quaestor (2010-) of the permanent bureau; defence, public order and national security committee (1993-1996); culture, art and mass media committee (1992-1996); public health committee (1996-1997); committee for investigating abuses, combating corruption and petitions (2000-2001; 2004-2005); joint committee providing oversight to the activities of Serviciul Român de Informaţii
Serviciul Român de Informatii
The Romanian Intelligence Service is the Romanian domestic intelligence service. It is considered the descendant of the former Departamentul Securităţii Statului , of the Socialist Republic of Romania. The official decree The Romanian Intelligence Service (', SRI) is the Romanian domestic...
(since 2000); joint committee of 1989 revolutionaries (2004); equal opportunity committee (2008-2009). From 1992 to 2008, he was leader of the UDMR's parliamentary delegation. Also, from 1997 to 2007, he headed the UDMR chapter based in Odorheiu Secuiesc.
As of 2009, Verestóy is the third-wealthiest Romanian politician, with holdings of €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
100 million, down from €250 million a year earlier, with losses due to the recession. Nicknamed the "logging king", he has significant investments in the wood industry; it was there that he began to build up his wealth, and he has been dubbed an "oligarch
Business oligarch
Business oligarch is a near-synonym of the term "business magnate", borrowed by the English speaking and western media from post-Soviet parlance to describe the huge, fast-acquired wealth of some businessmen of the former Soviet republics during the privatization in Russia and other post-Soviet...
of the transition
Transition economy
A transition economy or transitional economy is an economy which is changing from a centrally planned economy to a free market. Transition economies undergo economic liberalization, where market forces set prices rather than a central planning organization and trade barriers are removed,...
" by President
President of Romania
The President of Romania is the head of state of Romania. The President is directly elected by a two-round system for a five-year term . An individual may serve two terms...
Traian Băsescu
Traian Basescu
Traian Băsescu is the current President of Romania. After serving as the mayor of Bucharest from June 2000 until December 2004, he was elected president in the Romanian Presidential Elections of 2004 and inaugurated on December 20, 2004...
. Other companies in which he holds a substantial amount of shares are Transgaz
Transgaz
Transgaz , is a state-owned company, which is the technical operator of the national natural gas transmission system in Romania. The company handled in 2006 a quantity of 15.85 billion m³ of natural gas....
and Rompetrol
Rompetrol
The Rompetrol Group N.V. , is a Romanian oil company, that operates in many countries throughout Europe:unclear what "market share": refining? downstream? extraction? well services?*Romania - 2nd largest oil company, 40% market share...
. As of 2007, he owned three apartments he built in Bucharest that year, an older apartment in the capital and one in Odorheiu Secuiesc, and a vacation house in Ilfov County
Ilfov County
Ilfov is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs or satellites of Bucharest...
. That year, prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate
National Anticorruption Directorate
National Anticorruption Directorate , formerly National Anticorruption Prosecution Office , is the Romanian agency tasked with preventing, investigating and prosecuting corruption-related offenses that caused a material damage higher than €200,000 or whose value of the involved amounts or goods is...
investigated him for allegedly earning €10 million from transactions involving a regional investment fund that he had made as a result of information obtained due to his parliamentary office, but decided not to indict him.
Verestóy runs a charitable foundation and is president of the Odorhei Handball Club. He and his wife have one son.