Romanian Press Club wrote an official letter to the manager of Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS) presenting its conclusions regarding the conflict between the press distributor Rodipet and the weekly magazine Saptamana Financiara (SFIN), following a hearing of both parts that took place on May 3.

CRP ruled that the request of the press distributor managers to meet with editors of the SFIN represented a serious interference of the commercial aspect into the editorial politics. The attempt to stop the publication reach its public on grounds of personnel shortage is unjustified, hence it is considered a censorship attempt.

Moreover, the blackmail invoked by Rodipet could not be proved by the managers of the press distributors.

Based on these rationales, the Romanian Press Club concluded that the protocol between the CRP and the press distributor Rodipet was violated by disregarding the article 1 that refers to non-discriminatory distribution of all editorial products.

The head of Rodipet, an influential press distribution group, ordered all copies of the economic weekly Saptamana Financiara be seized at the head office of his company following news that May 1 issue of the newspaper contained a sensational investigation on his family’s businesses.

The Rodipet management justified the disturbance of the distribution due to personnel shortage on May 1, a day off throughout the country, and requested a personal meeting with the general manager, the editor-in-chief and the author of the article.