Romania’s president Traian Basescu has added watches, jewelry and paintings to his personal collection but has less money in his bank accounts compared to one year ago, according to his wealth statement this year.

The president bought jewelry worth EUR 5,000, paintings worth EUR 2,000 and watches worth EUR 10,000, according to Digi24 news station. The jewelry, watches and paintings in Basescu’s collection are worth a total of EUR 89,000.

His bank accounts, however, got thinner. His bank deposit at ING reduced from USD 42,000 to less than USD 4,000. His savings account at the same bank decreased from more than EUR 30,000 last year to EUR 500. One year ago he also had RON 400,000 (EUR 88,000) at BCR and RON 118,000 (EUR 26,000) at BRD, which are almost gone. He still has a USD 46,000 deposit at UniCredit Tiriac Bank.

Basescu also owns a 250 sqm apartment in Bucharest, a small flat in Constanta, and two cars: a Dacia Duster which he bought in 2010 and a Ford BMax bought in 2012. His older daughter, Ioana Basescu, paid for the Ford, according to Basescu’s wealth statement.

In November, Ioana Basescu bought a 290- hectare plot of agriculture land in Calarasi county for EUR 1.3 million. Part of the transaction was financed from a bank loan of EUR 1.02 million from state owned bank CEC. The loan triggered a political scandal and an investigation into how CEC approves these loans.

editor@romania-insider.com