Following negotiations, train maintenance costs will also be reduced by 30% in 2011 and by 34% until 2018, said the sources.
The new terms were included in an additional act to the contract signed by the two companies in 2003 and must be approved by the Government. They will be applied only if Metrorex pays its debts to Alstom for maintenance services provided in the August-December 2009 interval and the August-December 2010 interval.
Early this year, Metrorex general manager Gheorghe Udriste said the contract with Alstom might be cancelled unless they reached an agreement on reducing train maintenance costs.
Alstom Transport Romania, a branch of French company Alstom, signed a EUR240 million contract with Metrorex in 2003 for 15 years. The contract was financed by foreign financial institutions for the first three years of its run and has been funded by the state budget since 2007.
In 2008, the subway operator’s debts to Alstom amounted to RON55.04 million, without VAT. They were paid the next year from state subsidies, but Metrorex incurred new debts worth RON116.48 million (without VAT) in 2009. Last year, the operator paid RON42.53 million (without VAT), but incurred a further RON61.9 million in debts, in addition to the RON73.95 million remaining. (EUR1=RON4.2525)