The State Department has confirmed a new Romanian honorary consul in Georgia, re-opening a diplomatic post left vacant three years ago.
Darius Gazinschi, director of worldwide finance at MeadWestvaco Corp., worked with former honorary consul John Lazau beginning in 2000.
Mr. Lazau returned to Romania to pursue business interests in 2005 and the post was not filled.
Mr. Gazinschi’s credentials to represent the eastern European country in Georgia were accepted by the State Department about three weeks ago.
He plans to expand his contacts with state representatives and business officials to serve the Romanian community in the state, which he estimates to be between 20-25,000 people.
“My main interest right now is to understand the economic and diplomatic channels that I can leverage to address the consular objectives—fostering economic and cultural ties between Romania and the U.S.,” Mr. Gazinschi told GlobalAtlanta.
He is working with Romania’s minister of foreign affairs to direct investment opportunities to the proper channels, and is planning to work with Atlanta business organizations to bring Romanian companies here.
Mr. Gazinschi is originally from Cluj, Romania, in the country’s northwestern region of Transylvania, and came to the U.S. in 1995.
Romania overthrew a repressive communist regime in 1989 and has since been integrating with the rest of the world politically and economically, joining NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007.
Nicholas Taubman, U.S. ambassador to Romania, visited Atlanta in February during a three-city tour promoting investment in the country.
He has represented the U.S. in Bucharest, Romania’s capital, for the past three years and told GlobalAtlanta that the EU has given the country 33 billion euros for infrastructure projects over the next decade.