Prosecutors with the Directorate Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) have indicted four people, Romanian and foreign nationals, as part of an espionage inquiry targeting the Serbian company NIS Petrol, a subsidiary of the Russian energy giant Gazprom. Prosecutors have ordered searches in Bucharest and Timișoara, both at the company’s headquarters, as well as at the homes of a number of employees, confiscating documents and data storage hardware. The four are accused of having traded classified information and of facilitating the unauthorized transfer of data concerning Romania’s mineral reserves, DIICOT prosecutors say. In 2009, Gazprom bought the majority package at NIS based on an agreement signed by Belgrade and Moscow.
Eugen Cojocariu, Radio Romania International
