The Romanian Administration of State Patrimony (RA-APPS) will sell 733 out of the 1,000 properties it owns and hopes to make some EUR 200 million from the sale, the Government has said. Each auction will be open and the state hopes to get the highest price possible for each property, bringing more money to the country's budget. Even so, some properties will still remain in the state's property: public institutions headquarters, embassies, consulates, party headquarters, as well as the houses of former heads of state, who are entitled by law to a house for as long as they live.

The sale will go ahead irrespective of who now lives in the building, without offering the tenants the first right to buy the property, according to Prime Minister Emil Boc. “There is no privilege for existing tenants, so that they buy it at book value or under the market price,” said Boc.

The tenants will continue to live in the buildings until the end of their contracts with RA-APPS. They will also be allowed to take part in the bid, should they want, only if they don't hold any debt towards the State Patrimony Administration.

The Administration owns retail spaces, housing units, either apartments or villas,  administrative office spaces, land plots in various cities across Romania.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com