The Stage of Privatization at CFR SA

September 2003 will represent for the history of the Romanian Railways an important moment for the achievement of a major objective: the privatization!

On Monday, September 2003, at the Romanian Goods Exchange Market, there took place an auction with hail for selling 23 subsidiaries belonging to the Romanian railway system, companies that were operating in that moment as parts of CFR SA, CFR Calatori and CFR Marfa.
540 potential investors have showed their interest for these offers which have purchased the presentation cards that were sold by the three railway companies.
For selling the shares owned by the National Romanian Railway Company "CFR" SA, there have been set out for auction the following subsidiaries: SC SIRCUC Brasov SA; SC SIRCUC Timisoara SA; SC SPIACT Craiova SA; SC SPIACT Arad SA; SC SPIACT Cluj SA; SC SPIACT Brasov SA; SC SPIACT Galati SA; SC Constructii CFR SA; SC Tipografia Filaret SA; SC Lucrari de Sudura Linii de Cai Ferate Sudarec SA(Track Welding Company); SC Uniforma CF Bucharest SA; SC Impregnat Traverse din Lemn SA( Wooden Slippers Impregnate); SC Proiect CF Bucharest.

Against the initially established schedule with regard to the privatization of certain subsidiaries within CFR SA, there has been succeeded up to the middle of October to be effectively sold and to be cashed the prices per share package contracted by seven subsidiaries: SIRCUC Brasov, SPIACT Arad, SPIACT Galati, Constructii CFR, SUDAREC, Impregnat Traverse de Lemn and Proiect CF Bucharest.
There are still in developing stage the negotiations of the sale contracts for SIRCUC Timisoara, SPIACT Craiova, SPIACT Cluj, SPIACT Brasov and Tipografia Filaret. The only company that was taken out to auction which was not shown any interest to any Buyer was Uniforma SA, for which there has been organized a new auction and there are expected to be submitted offers. Presently, there are made efforts in order to attract buyers by using all the legal methods, including advertising in various publications, yet, if we take into consideration its special activity object - the confection of uniforms CFR type - - it is understandable the lack of interest for this company.
As there has been stipulated in the CFR SA program, up to September 30, the current year, there have been submitted for privatization 13 units. The process will go on, entering into a new stage, as finalization deadline being December 31, the current year, pursuant to which there will be reached to a number of 15 CFR SA subsidiaries taken out on the market. The new subsidiaries entered in the privatization program are SC GEIP and SC Turims and Agrement CFR.
The company has made special efforts in order to pay this debt - within RGSCC being set up specially on this purpose a privatization unit, which, although it has a reduced personnel in number, has satisfactorily faced the thousands of pages of documentation that they should have drawn up, as well as the catacombs of the laws and regulations that are governing this complex process.
We have talked about the way in which there it is developed the privatization process at CFR SA with the central inspector, Mr. Lucian Blaga, who offered a few quite interesting details: "The majority of the companies that have been sold had five-six buyers up to 12 tenderers, the record number of the possible buyers being recorded by SPIACT Brasov, which has succeeded another record: there has been obtained 12 times the initial auction price.
The auction has been unfolded through the Romanian Good Exchange Market; the conditions have been similar for all the companies detached from CFR SA. Probably their activities were closely related to the railway infrastructure, proving that the investors know very well what it is emphasized in our country, in point of the rehabilitation of all the infrastructures, as well as the fact that at the Railways there it is in development stage a series of programs, with important works.
There has been an experience in an entirely new field: about privatization we knew only what it was written in the newspapers. We had the chance, in the last months, to be directly involved and we saw what the privatization means, with all the components implied by this process, and we have learnt quite a lot of good things that we could use later on. The privatization Unit at CFR SA has shined. We have three devoted and intelligent girls, who, being pressed by the short time that they had available, have made special efforts for drawing up the necessary documentation".
According to the press release issued by the Ministry of Transports, Constructions and Tourism, on September 16, the current year, next to the 12 subsidiaries of CFR SA have been set out on the market other five subsidiaries belonging to the National Company for Passengers Railway Transport "CFR Calatori" SA (SC CFR SIRV Titu SA, SC CFR SIRV Caransebes SA, SC CFR SIRV Brasov SA, SC CFR SIRV Marasesti SA and SC CFR Mesagerie SA), and the National Company for Freight Railway Transport "CFR Marfa" SA have set out "for hail" other five subsidiaries: SC CFRTVM SA, SC CFR TRANSAUTO SA, SC CFR SSVAC SA, SC CFR SSVM SA and SC CFR BAD SA.

Ileana Statie