Ovidiu Ioan Silaghi | |
Office: | Minister of Transport |
Term Start: | 7 May 2012 |
Term End: | 21 December 2012 |
Office2: | Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce and Business Environment |
Term Start2: | 5 April 2007 |
Term End2: | 22 December 2008 |
Successor2: | Elena Udrea (Minister of Tourism Constantin Niță (Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce and Business Environment |
Office3: | Vice-Chair of European Parliament Committee on Budgetary Control[1] |
Term Start3: | 31 January 2007 |
Term End3: | 2 April 2007 |
Office4: | Member of the European Parliament |
Term Start4: | 4 September 2013 |
Term End4: | 10 June 2014 |
Term Start5: | 1 January 2007 |
Term End5: | 02 April 2007[2] |
Office6: | Member of the Romanian Parliament (Chamber of Deputies) for Satu Mare County |
Term Start6: | 11 June 2014[3] |
Term Start7: | 2012 |
Term End7: | 3 September 2013 |
Term Start8: | 17 December 2004[4] |
Term End8: | 2008 |
Office9: | President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Satu Mare County[5] |
Term Start9: | 1996 |
Term End9: | April 2007 |
Birth Date: | 12 December 1962 |
Birth Place: | Satu Mare, Satu Mare County, Romania |
Party: | National Liberal Party (PNL) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) |
Nationality: | Romanian |
Ovidiu Ioan Silaghi (in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /oˈvidju iˈo̯an ˈsilaɡi/; born 12 December 1962) is a Romanian politician. A member of the National Liberal Party (PNL), he became Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises in the second Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu cabinet (April 5, 2007).
Born in Satu Mare, Satu Mare County, Socialist Republic of Romania, Silaghi graduated in Mechanical engineering from the Transylvania University of Braşov (1987), and later (2004) took a master's degree in Public administration from the Vasile Goldiş University in Arad. From the time of his graduation to 1990 (after the Romanian Revolution), he worked as an engineer in his native city, and soon after opened his own private enterprise. In 1999–2004, he was president of the Satu Mare Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.
Silaghi joined the PNL in 1990, and was president of its youth wing section in Satu Mare until 1996, while serving as vice president of the main local section. He had other leadership positions until 2000, ultimately becoming president of the PNL section in 2001–2004, and a delegate to the central leadership body in 2002-2004. Between 2000 and 2004, Silaghi was also a member of the Satu Mare City Council.
In the elections of 2004, Silaghi was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for Satu Mare County, sitting on the Committee for Budget, Finance and Banks (until September 2005), the Committee for Information Technology and Communications (after September 2005), and the Committee for Industries and Services (after February 2007).
He became an observer to the European Parliament in September 2005. On 1 January 2007 he became a Member of the European Parliament for the PNL, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, with the accession of Romania to the European Union, before being nominated for a ministerial position in early 2007.
Silaghi is married and has two children.