Install

Get the latest updates as we post them — right on your browser

Today's paper. Last Updated: 06/04/2012

Romanian Privatizing Accelerates

BUCHAREST -- Romania will this week issue a list of 3,000 firms to be privatized within a year as part of its latest effort to press on with long-delayed reforms, the government said Monday.


"The list of 3,000 state-run enterprises to go private under the government's mass privatization plan will be published in the next few days and end-June 1995 is the deadline for this drive," a government press official said.


Earlier this month, the government unveiled a mass privatization program under which Romanians will be allowed to swap pre-shares vouchers, doled out in 1992, and new privatization coupons, yet to be distributed, for a 60 percent stake in 3,000 state companies.


The agencies managing Romania's privatization program handpicked the 3,000 enterprises, with profitability as a major criterion.


The scheme is subject to approval by parliament when it reconvenes after the summer recess in September. Last week, it came under sharp attack from local economists and opposition politicians who said it would only block economic reforms.


"I couldn't find any positive elements in the new privatization program," Viorel Salagean, editor-in-chief of the business weekly Adevarul Economic wrote.


"Instead of accelerating privatization, the new program will block it completely by creating chaos and uncertainty," Salagean said.


Opposition politician Varujan Vosganian told the business weekly Capital the new plan was a "game of privatization," which smacked of populism and was marked by disdain for market economy.


This was a reference to claims by Prime Minister Nicoale Vacaroiu that the new coupons would repair "social injustice" caused by profiteers who laid their hands on a large number of 1992 pre-share vouchers -- put by the premier and President Ion Iliescu at six million -- which they had bought from the needy. Vacaroiu heads a minority left-wing government.


But the World Bank welcomed the government's mass privatization program, while still acknowledging its intricate nature.




This article has no comments.

Be the first to leave a comment


Discussion
The Moscow Times welcomes your comments and invites you to discuss topics with other readers. Your comment will be posted automatically to enable a live discussion. If you aren't familiar with our comments policy, you can read it here.

If you're a registered user, you can start typing your comment below. If not, take a moment to sign up. and then return to the article.

If your comment doesn't appear, contact us by using our web form.

Comments

Comments via Facebook



print


Comments

This article has no comments.

Be the first to leave a comment





Most Read