Romanian environment minister exposes luxury purchases at weather agency, demands resignations

Findings of the control

Environment Minister Diana Buzoianu published part of the conclusions of the Ministry's Control Body on Saturday, 10 October 2026, following checks at the National Meteorological Administration (ANM). She said five official ANM cards had been used for purchases unrelated to meteorology, including perfumes, handbags, lingerie, designer clothing and decorative objects. Among the items she showed in images on social media was a luxury bra costing more than 1,000 lei.

For 2025, the control body listed clothing and luxury accessories worth 85,290 lei, perfumes worth 119,750 lei, room fresheners worth 38,687 lei and cosmetics worth 11,666 lei. Smart watches and accessories cost 11,545 lei, two floral arrangements 9,350 lei and two ornamental pots 6,381 lei.

Examples from 2026 and the call for resignations

The examples for 2026 include luxury clothing and accessories worth 103,143 lei, other clothing worth 8,742 lei, perfumes worth 12,619 lei, cosmetics worth 14,216 lei and room fresheners worth 4,311 lei. An Adevarul.ro headline puts the total of luxury spending above 200,000 lei. Buzoianu asked the ANM leadership to resign and said the control report would be sent to the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

Buzoianu warned the agency's leadership of a next step if they did not step down.

If this does not happen, on Monday we will urgently convene a meeting with the legal team of the Ministry of the Environment to analyse all the legal avenues we can follow.

The director's response

Elena Mateescu, the ANM director general, told Libertatea that she learned of the publication from the minister's Facebook page and had not spoken with her beforehand. Asked how such spending could happen without the leadership noticing, she said she had done her duty. She said the Control Body visited the agency in July after complaints, and that after the first documents were provided the agency launched an internal audit mission.

I took note of the control body report that the minister made public this morning on her own Facebook page. I did not have a prior discussion about this report with her.

Mateescu said that on 12 August the agency filed a complaint with the Bucharest Police, second section, which investigates economic crime, so that the matter could be checked and measures taken.

Leadership and an EU-funded project

G4Media reports that Mateescu has led the agency for ten years, is 62 years old and receives an annual salary of 50,000 euros as director general. Separately, the Anti-Fraud Department (DLAF) has placed a European-funded climate adaptation project run by ANM, worth more than 50 million euros, under scrutiny. DLAF said that once its checks are complete it would refer the matter to the competent institutions. The project concerns the Agrometeorological Centre for WMO Region VI-Europe, built by Real Deco SRL and Elektra Power. The contract was signed in December 2022 at an initial price of 4.6 million euros, was raised to 5.5 million euros in February 2025, and its completion term was extended from 17 to 24 months.