Cătălin Predoiu

Cătălin Marian Predoiu (Romanian pronunciation: [kətəˈlin preˈdoju]; born 27 August 1968, Buzău) is a Romanian lawyer who served as the interim Prime Minister of Romania from February 6 to February 9, 2012, following the resignation of Emil Boc.[1] He had previously been the Minister of Justice of Romania since 29 February 2008.[2]

Cătălin Predoiu
Prime Minister of Romania Acting
In office 6 February 2012 – 9 February 2012
President	Traian Băsescu
Deputy	Béla Markó
Preceded by	Emil Boc
Succeeded by	Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu
Minister of Justice
In office 29 February 2008 – 7 May 2012
Prime Minister	Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Emil Boc Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu
Preceded by	Teodor Meleșcanu (Acting)
Succeeded by	Titus Corlăţean
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1 October 2009 – 23 December 2009
Prime Minister	Emil Boc
Preceded by	Cristian Diaconescu
Succeeded by	Teodor Baconschi
Personal details
Born	(1968-08-27) 27 August 1968 Buzău, Romania
Nationality	Romanian
Political party	PNL (2014–present)
Other political affiliations	PNL-AT (1991–93) PDL (2013–14)
Alma mater	University of Bucharest
Profession	Lawyer

Lawyer

Cătălin Predoiu graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Bucharest in 1991. In 1994 he completed a training program in commercial law at the Caen Bar in France. Since 2003 he is a member of the Council of Bucharest Bar Association.[3]

Between 1994 and 2005 he taught commercial law as a lecturer at University of Bucharest.[3] Predoiu published several articles and studies about commercial law and has received a prize from the Romanian Academy as a co-author of a law treatise.[4] He completed his Ph.D. degree in commercial banks in 2004.[3]

Predoiu was an associate lawyer at the Zamfirescu, Racoți, Predoiu (ZRP) law partnership until 2008 working as a commercial and corporate governance lawyer.[3] His law firm assisted Rompetrol, the company owned by fellow Liberal Dinu Patriciu,[5] as well as the American company Cross Lander during the controversial privatization and bankruptcy of ARO SUV producer.[6]

Predoiu was a member of the board of directors of the state-owned CEC Bank until March 2008, when he resigned due to incompatibility of office.[7]

Politician

Predoiu became a member in 1991 of the National Liberal Party - Young Wing (a splinter from the National Liberal Party led by Dinu Patriciu and Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu), however this party was soon disbanded in 1993.[7]

On February 29, 2008, in a move that surprised even other leaders of National Liberal Party, Prime-Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu proposed him as Minister of Justice, his candidature being approved by President Traian Băsescu.[7]

He was a candidate from PNL for the Chamber of Deputies in Buzău, however, he got only 28.9% of the votes, losing to Social-Democrat Marian Ghiveciu, who got 46.6%.[8] His term as Minister of Justice was extended in the new Emil Boc Cabinet (since 22 December 2008), composed of Social Democratic Party and Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) members. This brought criticism from his party, the National Liberal Party, which led to Predoiu's self-suspension. He argued that he accepted this new nomination only to continue his work at the ministry. He was the only independent minister in the first Boc Cabinet.

In the second Boc cabinet, he was one of three independent ministers of that government (together with Mihail Dumitru and Teodor Baconschi) and the only member of the Tăriceanu cabinet still in office.

In December 2009, he was reappointed Minister of Justice, and became the only independent minister, after Dumitru was replaced and Baconschi became a member of PDL. He was replaced in his function on 8 Mai 2012.

In October 2011, the Ministry of Justice signed a 1.5 million lei contract with RVA Insolvency, a company to which Predoiu's father-in-law was an associate.[9] According to the Ministry, the conflict of interest laws did not apply in this case because the contract was financed by the World Bank, not the government budget.[9]

In 2013, Predoiu became a member of the PDL, being named the First Vice President and Shadow Prime Minister of the party.[10] Following the alliance of PDL and PNL, National-Liberal presidential candidate Klaus Iohannis expressed his support for Predoiu as prime-minister.[11]

In 2014, following the merger between PDL and PNL, he became First Vice President of PNL until an unification Congress in the summer of 2017. In the Romanian legislative election of 2016, Predoiu won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in Călărași on PNL's party list.

Electoral history

Mayor of Bucharest

Election	Affiliation	First round			Second round
		Votes	Percentage	Position	Votes	Percentage	Position
2016	PNL	64,186	11.18%	3rd

References

1. "Romania PM quits as financial crisis topples government", The Telegraph, retrieved 2012-02-06
2. Hotnews.ro Dumitrina Galantonu 29 Feb. 2008 Catalin Marian Predoiu, noul ministru al Justitiei (in Romanian)
3. (in Romanian)Cătălin Predoiu propus ministru al justiţiei, BBC News, 29 February 2008
4. (in Romanian) Cătălin Marian Predoiu - noul ministru al justiţiei, Evenimentul Zilei, 29 February 2007
5. (in Romanian)Noul ministru al justiţiei depune jurământul, BBC News, 29 February 2008
6. "Cross Lander, pe urmele lui Nobel Ventures", hotnews, August 20, 2005
7. (in Romanian)Cătălin Predoiu a preluat mandatul de la Justiţie, BBC News, 3 March 2008
8. (in Romanian)Ministrul Catalin Predoiu a pierdut duelul justitiei la Buzau, Hotnews, 1 December 2008
9. (in Romanian)Cum a ajuns RVA Insolvency, compania la care a fost asociat socrul ministrului Predoiu, sa ofere consultanta tehnica ministerului Justiei, Hotnews, 3 November 2011
10. "Guvernul din umbra al PDL: Predoiu, premier, Macovei - la Justitie, Ialomitianu la Finante", Hotnews, September 23, 2013
11. "Klaus Iohannis: Dupa ce castig alegerile il voi numi pe Catalin Predoiu premier", Hotnews, September 6, 2014

Political offices
Preceded by Emil Boc	Prime Minister of Romania Acting 2012	Succeeded by Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu