Romanian Niels Schnecker, managing senior partner at consultancy company Schnecker van Wyk&Pearson and currently known to the Romanian public as talk show anchor with Antena 3 TV station, is to take over the office of Chairman within the Board of Directors of the Romanian Railroad Company (CFR), according to a statement of Ovidiu Silaghi, Minister of Transportation for Mediafax news agency.

Schneker has a Masters in Financial Management, is holder of the Certified Corporate Financier (MFM/CCF) Certification as well as of the Chartered Economic Policy Advisor / Certified Corporate Economist (CEPA/CCE) certification from the American Academy of Financial Management, according to the CV published on his personal web site. His academic record also includes a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the National Center for Business Studies in Washington DC USA, and a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris at the Sorbonne.

His work history includes a council position within the Ministry of Transport  and a general manager position with Federal Express – XPS SERVICES (PTY) LTD, Johannesburg, South Africa. Schneker also acted as Special Counsel in the Reagan Administration, at the White House.

His appointment as CFR Chairman was also confirmed by an announcement of the CFR General Shareholders Meeting about the election of a new Board of Directors, with a four year mandate. The Directors’ list includes, among others, Lucian Isar, former Business Environment Minister, Enache Jiru, Finance State Secretary, Cristian Ghibu, General Manager of CFR SA, and Danut Sandu.

This episode is part of the “Management Privat la Stat” (Private Management for the State) project. In July this year, the Ministry of Transportation appointed associates PwC-D&B David and Baias-George Butunoiu to recruit the top management, general managers and Boards of Directors for companies that are under the Ministry’s authority and have a turnover of more than EUR 7.3 million.

The Private Management for the State project is financed by the European Social Fund Operational Programme “Administrative Capacity Development 2007-2013″ (PODCA) and it is co-financed by the Romanian state through the budget of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

At the end of November, CFR SA, a company entirely owned by the Romanian State,  received an EUR 174 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) intended to allow the company’s management to regain its  financial  balance by paying its outstanding debts.

Ioana Jelea ioana.jelea@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Antena 3 Facebook)