Christian Heinzmann will remain the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Romania’s airline Tarom, according to Romanian Transport Minister Ramona Manescu.

The company’s new board will cancel the annex through which the Heinzmann’s four – year mandate has been shortened to a year.

“As long as the new board has a mandate to cancel that annex that was made without complying with the statute and the legal provisions, Mr. Heinzmann will remain. It makes no sense to recruit another manager at this point,” said Ramona Manescu.

Belgian Heinzmann is the second private manager appointed at the helm of Tarom, after the company became the first state-owned firm to appoint private management, as part of an agreement with international financiers from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Heinzmann replaced Heinrich Vystoupil, who gave up his position shortly after starting.

Romania’s Transport Ministry recently fired the entire board of directors at state-owned airline Tarom and named a new management team.

The new board is currently made of Dante Stein, counselor of the Romanian Prime Minister, Manuel Donescu, state secretary within the Transport ministry, Florin Luca, banking strategy consultant, Bogdan Speteanu, general manager of BCR Leasing and Razvan Filipescu, president of the National Tourism Authority.

National carrier Tarom’s losses in the first four months of 2013 reached more than EUR 15 million, some EUR 6.8 million more than foreseen in the management plan.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com