RO Govt. approves draft bill to unban the sale of stakes in state-owned companies

Romania’s Government adopted on Wednesday a draft bill that bans a law voted by the Parliament last year that banned the sale of stakes in state-owned companies.

The new bill will allow state-controlled companies to draw money from private investors to finance their investment projects, prime minister Florin Citu explained.

“It is a clear message for investors, both in Romania and abroad, that this Government supports investments and knows that it needs investments to develop,” PM Citu added, quoted by News.ro.

The Government will send the draft bill to the Parliament for approval. As the center-right governing coalition holds a majority in the Parliament, the bill should pass.

Marcel Ciolacu, the head of the biggest opposition party – the Social Democratic Party (PSD) – which passed the law banning the sale of stakes in state companies last year, said he would oppose the Government’s bill in Parliament.

“If needed, we will protest in the street alongside all Romanians who oppose the robbing of the state’s most valuable assets,” Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Liberal energy minister Virgil Popescu said that the Government doesn’t plan any privatization. It only wants to allow state-controlled companies to access the capital market by selling minority stakes to private investors.

“We do not privatize. The state must be the majority shareholder in all companies of national strategic interest in the field of Energy. And so it will be. The listing of some minority stakes on the stock exchange does not mean privatization, but the chance of modernization and making investments, which will benefit every Romanian,” minister Popescu said.

(Photo: Gov.ro)