King of Steel Max Ausnit's heirs ask Romania to increase stake in Fondul Proprietatea to compensate all former owners

The delays in compensating Romanian industrialist Max Ausnit's heirs with Fondul Proprietatea shares for the Totan Nadrag Calan factories and the recent drop in the number of shares owned by the Romanian state in the fund makes it harder for the heirs to receive compensation and puts pressure on the state budget. “We have to face the risk of not having any means of compensation, although, according to papers issued by the state authorities and by courts of law, we are entitled to the compensation measures,” said Steven Ausnit, one of the Max Ausnit heirs, in a statement to the media. “If the National Authority for Property Restitution slows this down even further, we could not receive any shares in the Fund, because the state won't have any left,” Steven Ausnit went on. The state should increase its participation in the fund, rather than decrease it, Ausnit believes. This situation could lead to further litigation between those who are supposed to get compensation in Fondul Proprietatea shares, as they would go to court to ask some other kind of compensation. The state only has 12.39 percent in Fondul Proprietatea shares, according to data at the end of July this year, and an assitional package has been blocked as it failed to cover its share of the social capital. There are still hundreds of thousands people who need to receive compensation, according to statistics based on restitution requests and files. 87-year old Steven Ausnit and his daughter-in-law, Nuria Ausnit, have been trying since 2001 to get compensation for the former factory Uzinele Metalurgice Titan Nadrag Calan, which had been confiscated by the Romanian state. The Ausnit heirs also received shares in Fondul Proprietatea based on Ausnit’s holdings in Resita. More about Max Ausnit, also known as the King of Steel, in our Famous Romanians article here. Fondul Proprietatea, managed by Franklin Templeton, has been created to compensate the owners of properties confiscated during the communist period, when the compensation was no longer possible in kind. Listed on the Bucharest Stock exchange since earlier this year, Fondul Proprietatea was created in 2005 as a joint stock company. The value of the fund’s assets exceeds EUR 3.5 billion. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Agerpres)