The other bidders are a consortium of Russian Railways (RZD) and the French National Railroad Company (SNCF), and COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company), Grampet said in a press release.
Grampet has won an auction to privatize Croatia’s railway company HZ Cargo and is also in the race to acquire Bulgarian state-owned freight railway carrier BDZ Cargo.
On June 20, private railway company Grup Feroviar Roman (GFR) won an auction organized by the Romanian Transport Ministry to privatize CFR Marfa and offered EUR202 million for a 51% stake in the railway operator. GFR also committed to invest RON900 million in the company and another EUR1.5 million in environmental projects.
The privatization contract has yet to be signed as the sale process has been hindered by disputes between the head of state and the Government.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta said recently, after the Executive approved the sale contract, that the document would be sent to the country’s high defense body CSAT for a standpoint, adding that CSAT’s failure to approve the contract would block the privatization process.
However, in its recent negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a new loan program, the Government pledged to sign the sale contract by September.
The strategy to approve CFR Marfa had been approved in February. CSAT convened Friday for discussions on the railway operator but no new decision was take. The Presidency said after the meeting that talks were “constructive.”
Bogdan Oprea, spokesman of President Traian Basescu, explained previously that endorsing privatization contracts is not among CSAT’s duties, and accused Ponta of trying to evade responsibility regarding the privatization of the freight railway operator.