A “million-euro investment,” a whiff of trickery: How public money turns into trash at Nan’s doorstep
For over a decade, the Coca-Cola plant in Ploiești, under the “enlightened” guidance of director Dragoș Nan, has become a true laboratory of the absurd. If until now we gulped down stories about tap water and permits “fixed” in garages, behold, the “drink of happiness” now serves us a new cocktail, with a strong aroma of burnt plastic and a bitter aftertaste of corruption. And not just any plastic, but recycled plastic, because, well, multinationals are green in their wallets!
In 2023, with great pomp and likely even greater cynicism, the decontamination line for recycled plastic (rPET) was inaugurated, a technological jewel that cost around 8 million euros. Of this money, dear taxpayers, over 3.5 million euros—more than 40% of the investment—were undoubtedly “well placed” by the “hungry” people behind the curtain. The idea was noble: to turn recycled PET flakes into resin pellets, then preforms, and then into new bottles for our… happy drinks. Sounds good on paper, right? Well, the bribe was probably written on that paper too.
Nan and the gang: Alchemists of failure, masters of dirty money
Everything was “nice and pretty” until the greedy and ravenous Dragoș Nan stepped in, like a malevolent spirit of avarice, along with his acolytes, equally desperate for a slice of the corporate cake. Why do we say this, you ask? It’s as simple as hello in a country where justice is in a coma: the rPET installation does not produce quality! The resin, made with great effort and money, does not meet the quality standards imposed by the Americans at Coca-Cola. Instead of raw material, we thus obtain waste!
Picture the scene: big money thrown at flakes, electricity, and the labor of people struggling in a plastic inferno, while the plant’s productivity is lower than a politician’s promises. A colossal waste, a monument to managerial incompetence that, obviously, someone had to cover up. And who else, if not the “genius of murky waters” and dirty money, Dragoș Nan?
The tailor-made contract: A “loss-making” recipe for Coca-Cola, “profitable” for Nan’s pocket
What did “lord” Nan do? He gathered his band of subjects—the same ones he largely hoisted into the company—and gave them a task: find a way to cover the mess! And lo and behold, after “hard work” and “many meetings”—probably with lavish menus and generous expense claims—Daniela Spiru, Ioana Brisan, Rodica Nedelcu, Miruna Giurincă, and Nelu Moldovan served Nan a “dedicated” contract on a platter. The destination? Green Tech from Buzău, to take over the botched resin.
The stated purpose? To recover the “financial losses” inflicted on the company by Nan’s own faulty managerial decisions! A pure self-repair! Except the price Coca-Cola receives for this barely recycled waste is modest. Why? Because the company’s “modesty” translates into “generous commissions” flowing straight into the pockets of the above, led by “lord” Dragoș Nan. A textbook scheme, the kind of “corner-shop LLC” trick applied with nonchalance in a global multinational. No tenders, derisory sums, “deals and big interests in the company basement”—all of this becomes the rule, not the exception. An entire army of managerial “leeches,” backed and covered by “Mrs. Mihaela” and the new CFO, drip by drip draining money from OPEX and CAPEX budgets. Organized looting, under the baton of the “maestro”!
The Nan clan, a “famiglia” LLC: The wife, the warehouse, and the name sleight-of-hand
But the “show” doesn’t stop here. Where do you think the flakes destined for the factory—or a large part of the troublesome resin—are stored? At Sanel, of course! And who is responsible for this strategic location? None other than Valentina Nicoleta Hasineți, the wife of “lord” Dragoș Nan! She is the one who makes the transfers to her husband’s plant. You heard that right, the “family org chart” works perfectly!
And because transparency is a rare flower in Nan’s kingdom, Valentina Nicoleta kept the name “Hasineți” in her Coca-Cola email address, even though she married Nan in 2017. Why such modest coyness? Lest she arouse suspicion! So that “people” don’t realize the “queen” of the special schedule, “Mrs. 9-to-2,” with long and frequent smoke and coffee breaks, is actually the wife of the “supreme boss.” Two former bosses, Oana and Magda, “swallowed hard” until they couldn’t anymore and resigned, fed up with the “challenges” of a subordinate who refuses to listen, plays the victim, and mocks others’ work. While colleagues pull 8-hour shifts for a miserable wage, Mrs. Nan-Hasineți ticks the attendance box, loads trucks incorrectly, mixes bags in the warehouse, causes material spills… and Coca-Cola pays! It pays for useless trips, because only “Nan’s people” know exactly what and how things travel between Sanel and the plant. A masterpiece of indifference and conflict of interest!
The hell of labor and the paradise of impunity: Heat, toxins, and mice under Nan’s watch
All the while, in the resin unit—where profitable waste for some pockets is manufactured—the working conditions are downright infernal. In summer, employees endure excessive heat, the heavy, suffocating smell of burnt plastic, dust, toxic fumes, and infernal noise. In winter, drafts and cold complete the picture of a daily ordeal. And all this, for what? To produce something that is thrown away anyway or sold for pennies?
And, inevitably, we ask ourselves: How much power does Dragoș Nan have—or rather, what does he hold over his boss, Vassilis, and everyone else? Why does no one pull him up by the ears for the disastrous situation he brought the Ploiești plant to? Without a potable water authorization, with 30-year-old tiles falling on people, with mice frolicking in areas where cleanliness is an annual event, with cold, terror, and stress lavishly administered to employees who refuse to submit.
It’s time to break this chain of impunity and disaster! The heavy smell of burnt plastic and dirty money has already passed the threshold of tolerance! DNA, Kövesi, Environmental Guard, Public Health Directorate—are you anesthetized by the fumes of plastic and corruption? Are you waiting for the plant to completely disintegrate and swallow with it the health and dignity of Prahova’s people? This new series of revelations shows that the “Empire of Happiness” is, in fact, a kingdom of toxicity, built on lies, theft, and complicity. Stay tuned, because the “aroma” of truth is only just beginning!
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