Romanian minister: Sovereign Investment Fund to kick off on January 1

The future Sovereign Investment Fund (FSDI) in Romania will become active on January 1, 2018, economy minister Mihai Fifor said yesterday. “We are now waiting for the approval of Eurostat (EU’s statistical office), and once we have it, we’ll approve the law in the Government and then send it to the Parliament,” he added. FSDI will have a share capital of RON 1.85 billion (EUR 402 million), money from privatizations kept in the Treasury. “We’re trying to obtain as many benefits as possible from the profitable companies the state owns. We’re trying to take the money and invest it in infrastructure. We’re also planning to use the money for brownfield or greenfield investments,” Fifor said. The fund will include 27 companies where the state is either a full owner, or holds minority stakes, including Nuclearelectrica, OMV Petrom, Oil Terminal and Telekom Romania Communication, according to the draft project the Finance Ministry launched into public debate on August 30. It will not include the state-owned lenders CEC Bank and Eximbank. The future fund will decide on power producer Hidroelectrica’s listing. editor@romania-insider.com