Romania's President promulgates law freezing sale of state assets for two years

President Klaus Iohannis promulgated the law that bans the sale of stakes in national companies, banks, as well as any other companies in which it is a state shareholder for two years.

The Chamber of Deputies passed the bill on June 10, but the ruling Liberal Party challenged it at the Constitutional Court. The Court cleared the law as constitutional on July 14.

"Any operation regarding the sale of state stakes in national companies, as well as in companies in which the state has the quality of shareholder, started before the entry into force of this law is suspended for a period of two years," shows the normative act promulgated by the president, News.ro reported.

The measure of that suspension does not apply to post-privatization operations and operations specific to privatization if the transfer of ownership has already taken place.

Under the law, the Romanian state may acquire shares in companies that carry out economic activities in a rather broad range of fields, outlined by the law.

The bill will likely also impact the listing of the most valuable state-owned company, power producer Hidroelectrica, on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)