Sursa Foto: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
The Ministry of Economy announced on Tuesday that it intends to abolish, by Emergency Ordinance, the special administrators who are supposed to prepare state-owned companies for privatization. Minister Claudiu Năsui says that no company has been privatized in Romania since today, so these posts were just “well-paid sinecures for party activists”, with such a position being rewarded with up to 19,000 lei per month.
“At the Ministry of Economy the reform of the state-owned companies continues. Today we are putting on the approval circuit an Emergency Ordinance abolishing the sinecures of “special” privatization administrators in state companies. What are “special” administrators? A gimmick of the Nastase government that created well-paid sinecures for party activists. On paper, special administrators prepare state companies for privatization. In reality, Romania has not privatized anything for years. Since 2002, these so-called administrators have been preparing privatizations, and you can see how well they have done it by the state of most state companies,” wrote Năsui.
The special administrators were created by Law No 137 of March 2002 on measures to speed up privatization.
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In this context, Claudiu Năsui points out that, after 20 years, these companies are neither privatized nor “privatisable”. Moreover, according to the Minister of Economy, as long as the company is not privatized the special administrator can earn a salary of up to 19,000 lei per month.
“They made ‘our’ companies ‘their’ companies and turned them into black holes through which they have siphoned money for two decades. How do they do that? Well, as long as the company is not privatized, the special administrator gets a nice salary, in some cases up to 19,000 lei a month. Year after year, government after government. And if you’re wondering where these black holes that are on the verge of bankruptcy get their money from, the answer is simple: from the budget, i.e. the taxpayers. The companies went into debt unwittingly under the “special” administration, then the debts were periodically written off. The ‘special’ administration regime even provides for the suspension of enforcement by the ANAF. This is a privilege that any normal entrepreneur, who is taxed for even a few lei, cannot even dream of,” the minister stressed.
Risk of infringement
The Economy Minister also warned that Romania risks infringement if it does not repeal the special administrators’ regime.
“The European Union has been asking us to repeal this ‘special’ regime, warning us that we are at risk of infringement. But the state is much quicker to implement European directives when it comes to red tape and extra burden on the economy, never when it means giving up money and privileges for party executives. If we really want to have healthy industries in Romania, we have to stop all these “special” sinecures and privileges. In the Ministry of Economy and its subordinate companies, reform continues. I have been accused of removing “theirs” to put in “ours”. This is not true at all. On the contrary, we are now removing the very “special” law that protected them. We are putting an end to black holes and ticks and repealing the rules that have made all this ‘legal’ for 20 years,” added the Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism.
Edited for English by: Service For Life SRL