Former Unilever South Central Europe CEO and presidential adviser Alexandra Gatej takes helm of CFR Calatori board

Alexandra Gatej, former presidential adviser and former CEO of Unilever South Central Europe, is the new president of the board for Romania's state – owned railway company CFR Calatori – the passenger arm. CFR Calatori's CEO is Valentin Dorobantu, the former interim director of the company. The state has managed to place private management at CFR Calatori. The company's board also includes Dana Galben, who held management positions with CFR Calatori and the Highways Company, George Micu and Claudiu Octavian Dumitrescu, both having had management positions in railway companies in the past.

The members of the board were selected following a head-hunting process, which provided a short list of candidates, them Transport Minister Relu Fenechiu made the final decisions. After ending her term as a presidential adviser to Romanian president Traian Basescu, Gatej also held the helm of the AmCham – the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania, between 2011 and 2012. CFR Calatori ended 2012 with a loss of some EUR 100 million, and is in a dire financial situation. In 2012, the state decided to turns its EUR 900 million debt into shares, which will be taken over by the Transport Ministry, as sole shareholder. Most of the debt consists of unpaid taxes to the state budget, social insurance budget and special funds. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Agerpres)