Dan Cristian Popescu, PSD general councilor and independent candidate for the Capital City Hall, speaks Russian after seven months spent in Russia. Proposes car access tax in Bucharest, new rules for traffic and measures regarding education and inclusion. In the surveys it is in the “others” category.
Dan Cristian Popescu. Photo: The Truth Archive
The elections for Bucharest City Hall on December 7, 2025 bring before the citizens a list of independent candidates or those supported by smaller or larger parties.
Among them is Dan Cristian Popescu, PSD general councilor, former deputy mayor of Sector 2 and former deputy. He announced his candidacy as an independent, with the promise that he would not request the settlement of campaign expenses from public money.
In the last decade, he switched to several parties, including PSD, the party on whose lists he obtained a deputy mandate in 2020.
Extensive political path, marked by successive party changes
Popescu links his political beginnings to the atmosphere of the years 1989–1990, when he participated in protests and actions in University Square. He joined PNL in 1990, then moved to PNȚCD, where he held positions in youth organizations and where he met Corneliu Coposu. He later became vice-president of European Democratic Students, the youth organization of the European People’s Party.
After a less politically active period between 2004 and 2009, he took over the leadership of PNL Sector 2. In 2012 he was expelled from PNL and joined the Civic Force, becoming vice-president of the party. In the same year, he won his first deputy mandate on the lists of the Romania Right Alliance, in a context where PDL, PNL and Forța Civică formed an electoral alliance.
He returned to PNL after the PDL-PNL merger, but in 2020 he left for PSD, the party with which he ran for the Chamber of Deputies.
The political path of Dan Cristian Popescu is marked by successive party changes and internal conflicts. During the period in which he was active in the PSD, Popescu had critical positions towards the party’s leadership. In March 2025, he publicly attacked Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu’s decisions in a Facebook post, accusing him of being the main beneficiary of the annulment of the election and of retaining control of a party that he believed was leading in the wrong direction.
Popescu claimed that the banning of a candidacy was decided by the representatives of the governing coalition in the electoral institutions and that those involved will be criminally liable in time.
These criticisms are part of the series of grievances expressed by Popescu in recent months, when he reproached the party for internal decisions and the way of managing some administrative situations.
In the past, Popescu was close to Gabriela Firea, and during the period when PSD was negotiating the positions in the Capital, he was promised the position of deputy mayor general. The agreement did not materialize, and the support moved to Adrian Vigheciu.
Popescu obtained his first parliamentary mandate on the PNL list, then migrated to the PSD, on whose lists he won a second mandate.
Deputy Mayor of Sector 2 between 2016 and 2020
Popescu was deputy mayor of Sector 2 between 2016 and 2020, a mandate in which he was involved in infrastructure projects, programs for schools, the modernization of old elevators, the expansion of the use of electric vehicles in the administration, investments in public services and in discussions regarding a possible stadium for Dinamo.
Also during that period he had visibility in the local and national press, being constantly invited in debates about traffic, urban development and the administrative situation in Bucharest.
In 2024, he became a general councilor within the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest.
The General Counsel’s recent proposals. Access charges and new traffic rules
In recent months, Popescu submitted two major projects to the General Council. The first introduces a 3.5 euro tax for vehicles not registered in Bucharest or Ilfov that drive in the city. The project includes differentiated rates for one, seven, thirty days or a year, with distinct values for cars, vans, minibuses and coaches. The payment would be made online, by SMS or at authorized points, and the verification would be done by automatic cameras.
Exceptions are proposed for emergency services vehicles, diplomatic vehicles, electric vehicles and cars belonging to disabled people. Funds collected would be directed towards sustainable mobility projects and anti-pollution measures.
The second project foresees the possibility that cars with four passengers can travel on the lanes dedicated to public transport. The proposal aims to decrease the number of single-occupant vehicles and increase the efficiency of the use of existing infrastructure.
In the explanations submitted to the City Hall, Popescu invokes data from the Bucharest-Ilfov Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, as well as traffic and pollution indicators that show the high level of congestion in the Capital. In his opinion, the measure would also stimulate the re-registration of vehicles in Bucharest, which would increase the receipts from car taxes at the local level.
In the public space, Popescu also spoke about the representation of people with disabilities in the administration of the Capital. He announced that, should he become mayor, he would include a personal adviser from the disability community on his team, so that decisions on accessibility, mobility, education and other public services would be influenced by first-hand experiences. He also criticized the delays with which the disability incentive is currently being paid, arguing that the administration must pay it up to date.
Initiatives in education
In a recent post, he stated that all Bucharest schools must reach the same minimum endowment standard, so that every child has access to similar study conditions. He supports the introduction of school uniforms at the level of all educational units, although this decision does not fall under the competence of the Mayor General. It also proposes periodic drug testing in high schools.
Education, international experience and professional activity
The studies presented in the files show a very extensive educational profile. Popescu is a graduate of the Saint Sava College and the Faculty of Mathematics. He pursued graduate studies in political science and public administration at George Washington University and public management programs at the Academy of Economic Studies. He obtained a PhD in economics in 2015.
He attended courses in diplomacy, international security and military sciences at the National Defense College, the Romanian Diplomatic Institute and the National Intelligence Academy. The CV explicitly mentions that he speaks English, French and Spanish, that he has a level of knowledge of the Russian language and that he spent seven months in Russia.
In his professional activity he worked as a director in outdoor advertising and media companies. He led Eurotrust Construct, News Outdoor Romania and Imperial Media until entering the Parliament.
wealth
In the wealth declarations submitted in recent years, Dan Cristian Popescu appears with an extensive portfolio of properties and goods. He owns nine bank accounts, a Lexus car manufactured in 2021, two plots of land in Frumusani and Dascălu and nine apartments, six of which are in Bucharest, one in Ștefăneştii de Jos and two in Florida, United States. He also has a house of 104 square meters, built in 2008, commercial premises of approximately 110 square meters and four plots of land in Călăraşi county, three in full ownership and one in co-ownership.
In the category of valuables, he declares jewelry estimated at 150,000 euros, art and cult objects of approximately 25,000 euros and watches worth 53,000 euros.
Popescu announced that he will not request reimbursements from the budget in this campaign.
His position in the polls
In the polls published in recent weeks, Popescu does not appear among the candidates credited with individual scores. It is included in the “others” category, where the aggregate percentages do not exceed 2%.
The rankings are dominated by Daniel Băluță, Ciprian Ciucu and Cătălin Drula, the candidates who are constantly in the top three, followed by Anca Alexandrescu, Vlad Gheorghe, Ana Ciceală, Virgil Zidaru and Liviu Negoiță.
