The “Private CEO in the state sector” project, designed to turn state-run companies from “cash cows” into profitable companies that would function based on private sector principles, has therefore become a game of resistance of “private” managers to political pressure.
As far as general managers are concerned, only two out of ten CEOs of state-run companies where private managers have been recruited have private sector experience: Christian Heinzmann of Tarom and Adrian Misu Manolache of the Romanian Lottery. The rest are either managers politically appointed before the recruitment process started, who remained in place after private consultants did their recruiting, or have a political background. Two managers with private sector experience have already left their positions shortly after taking the jobs: Dimitris Sophocleous, who was general manager of CFR SA and Mustafa Aysun, who stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Directors of CFR Marfa.
Earlier this week PDL parliamentarians – the party in power when the project of introducing private management in state-run companies – criticized the project, but have forgotten that when the project was under their management the process of finding private manager recruitment firms dragged on for over a year. In fact the political pressure put on consulting and recruitment firms made it impossible to appoint a private CEO until the Government changed.
But although during the Ponta government the “Private CEO at the state” project progressed fast (the new Government came into power in June last year and the first private CEO – airline Tarom’s – was appointed in November), there have been slippages.
For instance, four of the eight “private” CEOs appointed to run state-controlled companies – Laurentiu Ciurel (CEO of CEN Oltenia), Daniel Georgescu (The Administration of Navigable Waterways Constanta), Ion Smeeianu (manager of the Romanian Postal Company) and Ioan Rusu (general manager of gas transmission company Transgaz) – had filled these positions since June last year, when they were politically appointed through a minister order, but kept their jobs even after recruitment firms had their say.
Other “private”, yet political appointments of managers in state-run companies include names such as Lucian Balut, the manager of the Administration of Sea Ports Constanta, who has no experience in the private sector and is head of the Constanta structure of ruling party PSD, Valentin Macec, former advisor to the transport minister, appointed in the Board of Directors of national airline Tarom – and deputy Gelil Eserghep, named in the Board of Directors of the Postal Company.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)