New try in privatization of Romania’s railway freight company CFR Marfa: mid-2015 becomes new deadline

The privatization process of Romania’s railway freight company CFR Marfa will be completed in the first half of 2015, after the company completes a restructuring program, according to Finance Minister, Daniel Chitoiu. The attempt to restart the privatization comes after a recent attempt to turn the state-owned company private ended in failure. “We have the obligation to approve the budget and the restructuring plan of CFR Marfa until early-December, namely December 8,” said the Romanian Minister, after the recent negotiations with the IMF. The sale of 51 percent in CFR Marfa to the bid winner Grup Feroviar Roman GFR, represented by its founder and main shareholder Gruia Sandu, couldn’t be completed by the October 14 deadline.

In a statement, the company said that GFR was called to the Transport Ministry on October 14 to be told that the privatization ended, as two procedures had not been fulfilled.

According to Sandu, some of the lenders of CFR Marfa did not agree to change the company’s shareholder structure and the Competition Council did not have enough time to green light the takeover. CFR Marfa is the largest railway freight carrier in Romania with a turnover of EUR 261 million in 2011 and a loss of EUR 22 million. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com