Prime Minister Victor Ponta said he is “moderately optimistic” about the prospects of a successful resumption of the state owned rail freight CFR Marfa privatization. Meanwhile, Transport Minister Relu Fenechiu indicated that he believed the June 20 deadline for the CFR Marfa privatization would be met. Around a week ago, Romania's Transport Ministry rejected all three bids it had received for the privatization of the national rail freight company.

“On Thursday, [May 23] we will go through three stages: the submission of tenders, the preliminary analysis and the establishment of the short list,”said Fenechiu, who also promised that the Ministry would work day and night to complete the process by Friday. He said the June 20 deadline should be respected, but shifted the blame from the Ministry for the delays already incurred.

The same three bidders have all pre-qualified to submit fresh bids: US rail company OmniTRAX, Grup Feroviar Român (GFR) and a joint bid by Transferoviar Grup (TFG) and Austrian investment fund Donau Finanz.

The conditions for bidders have been relaxed, with the from a minimum annual turnover reduced from EUR 100 million to EUR 20 million. However, the starting price of EUR 180 million remains unchanged, according to local news agency Mediafax.

Transport Minister Relu Fenechiu said after the rejection of the three bids last week that he would resign from his post “the next day” if the CFR Marfa privatization failed due to mishandling of the process by the Ministry.

Transport Minister Relu Fenechiu previously said that even after selling 51 percent in CFR Marfa, the country would still be able to prevent the sale of the company’s assets as scrap metal, and the restrictions in the task book will prevent intermediaries from signing up in the privatization race. The procedure will have three stages, pre-qualification, negotiation based on preliminary offers and the bid with closed offers.

The Transport Ministry is still aiming for completion of the process by the June 20 deadline, and this privatization is among the pledges Romania has made to its main financier the IMF.

CFR Marfa is the largest railway freight carrier in Romania, with a turnover of EUR 261 million in 2011 and a loss of EUR 22 million. Its debts of almost EUR 400 million to the state were to be wiped.

editor@romania-insider.com