Nicușor Dan, the mayor of Bucharest, has among his financiers a pro-Russian businessman named Matei Păun, according to newsweek.ro. This may raise questions about the transparency and political connections of the mayor of the capital.
Nicușor Dan and his donor, Matei Păun. PHOTO inliniedreapta.net
In 2016, among the big campaign donors of Nicușor Dan at the Capital City Hall were Horia Manda, George Iacobescu, Alexandru Lăpușan, Nicolae Rațiu and Florin Talpeș, according to hotnews.ro. Ion Rațiu's son, Nicolae Rațiu, also decorated by the Queen of Great Britain, also donated a large sum for Nicusor Dan's campaign.
Massive advertising in Bucharest
Nicușor Dan has launched a strong advertising campaign in Bucharest, which is run only on the street signs of Getica OOH SRL1. This company is owned by a company in a tax haven and has direct business links with Matei Păun.
Păun owns a number of other companies, one of which, BAC Financial Advisory SRL, developed on Kremlin-controlled markets and in contractual relationships with Russian financial institutions, according to the quoted source.
The total value of Nicușor Dan's campaign so far is at least 150,000-180,000 euros. According to his own statements, Nicușor Dan collected around 150,000 euros from donations until a week ago, stating that the target is around 450,000 euros.
According to the publication inliniedreapta.net, Matei Păun had pro-Russian and pro-Putinist positions that he never hid.
The businessman admitted that he made frequent visits to Moscow, questioned the dictatorial regime established by Vladimir Putin. Moreover, he questioned the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, after which Russia decided to illegally annex Crimea.
In an answer to Newsweek Romania, Matei Păun denied that he was filorus, despite the posts in the past.
PHOTO NewsWeek
“I have no pro-Russian views. I'm not philorous. The fact that I have knowledge about the Russian market and the specificities of the business space in this country means that I better understand the reasons and consequences of certain decisions, not that I am a fan. It is more dangerous to ignore the motivations and actions of a country with significant influence than to analyze and try to explain them. I am a convinced European. You are only fueling an electoral attack line of Nicușor's opponents. Hitting me. they try to hit it“, claims Paun.
Through a post from December 2014, according to inliniedreapta.net, Matei Paun announced that “not Putin is evil, but the West is “the bloodthirsty warmonger” because by imposing sanctions against Russia, the West will turn the “patriot” Putin (this is, apparently, his only flaw), into a Hitler. And because now Romania is also part of the West, our attempt, together with NATO allies, to prevent the 13th “patriotic” invasion of Romania in the last 200 years, turns us, in the logic of the article, into “attackers of bloodthirsty war“.
Păun states that he “supports them and that he supported the candidacy of Nicușor Dan (in 2012, 2016, 2020), according to all legal provisions”, reports Newsweek.
