The privatization deadline for Romania’s railway freight company CFR Marfa may be extended, it was revealed today. The commission privatizing the company announced it was considering extending the mid-October deadline, possibly to December 10.

“The Ministry of Transport will make sure the procedures of the privatization contract are respected,” said Transport Ministry spokesman Teodora Trandafir, quoted by local news agency Mediafax.

“In this sense, we have asked the position of the Competition Council, the answer came Friday, and went to the head of the privatization commission, state Secretary Cristian Ghibu.After the commission reviews the documentation and puts it in the context of the contract’s other parameters, it will make a decision on the continuation of the privatization process.”

Bogdan Chiritoiu, head of the Competition Council, said that representatives of the privatization commission were considering changing the period for CFR Marfa’s privatization, adding that December 10 was suggested as a possible date, writes Mediafax.

Romanian company Grup Feroviar Roman (GFR), the winner of the bid for CFR Marfa, recently transferred about EUR 20 million into an escrow account at Banca Transilvania, the amount representing 10 percent of the of the purchase price.

In June this year, GFR won the bid for CFR Marfa with a EUR 202 million offer for 51 percent of CFR Marfa’s shares together with a pledge to further invest EUR 204 million in the company.

The privatization contract was signed in early-September.

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. GFR is CFR Marfa’s main competitor in Romania and the two companies together control 70 percent of the railway freight market in Romania.

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