The new measure is included in Romania’s latest letter of intent to a EUR3.6 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund.
“CFR Infrastructura has begun executing cost reduction and revenue enhancement measures to move towards financial viability from 2013. This requires that decisive action is taken to ensure that the state-owned passenger and freight companies pay access charges in full to the infrastructure company. To facilitate full payment, we intend to revaluate the provision of subsidies and the public service obligations (PSO) of the passenger company, and take profitable services out of the PSO starting in 2013,” reads the document.
People close to the matter told Mediafax that the subsidy scheme for railway passenger transport will be reevaluated, and changes will target both several services offered to passengers, and the relation with private operators.
According to the sources, subsidies for private railway operators will no longer be computed considering their revenues. Fixed quotas are likely to be applied, they added.
The measure might slightly increase tariffs for some services offered to passengers. The subsidy scheme needs to be changed, but the matter must be carefully analyzed, the sources said.
Unions in the Romanian railway transport sector repeatedly complained that private operators’ subsidies from the state are double compared to those allotted to state-owned railway passenger carrier CFR Calatori.
Subsidies are granted considering operators’ total revenues. For this year, CFR Calatori budgeted revenues of 2.3 billion lei (EUR513 million), of which RON937.2 million are subsidies.
Private operators estimate annual revenues of RON3 million to RON50 million.
Under the law, the state covers the difference between railway passenger transport tariffs and real transport costs. (EUR1=RON4.4834)