Ion Tiriac owns Tiriac Holdings in Romania, with a turnover of several million euros in sectors such as auto, banking services, real estate and aviation. Ion Tiriac brought to Romania brands such as Metro Cash & Carry, Ford and Mercedes-Benz in the early ’90s, and was among the founders of the auto sector in Romania.
This is the first time that a major businessman raises the issue of what happens with a state-run company and its employees after it is privatized, with Romania being increasingly affected by shutdowns of plants lately.
“In a privatization you have to have a vision, look deep into the future, not be over and done with the day you hand the company over. If you privatize CFR Marfa and the company is taken over by the Spanish railway company or the German one and they invest in it and make it “shiny and new”, the state collects annual taxes. Then there are 5,000-10,000 employees working, earning wages and in turn paying taxes. Where is this vision with CFR Marfa?” He says
He adds that if the vision amounts to scrapping the plant, he would buy it tomorrow, scrap it and give the money to the poor.
“If there is no one with vision, we have to buy someone that has it.”
State-run rail freight carrier currently has debts of around RON1.8 billion (about EUR400 million). The Romanian government has committed in the latest negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to publish the privatization announcement for CFR Marfa in March and to sign the privatization contract for a majority stake in the company by mid-May, with the transaction to be sealed “when all terms are met.”
State-run companies should not be kept going at any cost because they engulf resources from the state budget.
“You cannot keep plants alive just on aspirin. You either perform surgery and eliminate what is rotten, you cannot keep subsidizing that plant because we all pay the cost,” the businessman said.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)