CONTRARY TO THE RUMORS Comana, Regiotrans: "We've never had any talks with Deutsche Bahn!"

• The German press yesterday announced the acquisition of 70% of the biggest private railway in Romania by German company Deutsche Bahn

• Comana made the following statements to "BURSA": "We had talks with the British of Arriva which started five years ago, and Arriva was acquired in 2010 by Deutsche Bahn"

Costel Comana, one of the owners of Regiotrans Braşov, has denied the information in the German press, according to which Deutsche Bahn, the biggest European railway company, would acquire 70% of the shares of the Braşov-based passenger transport. "We never talked to Deutsche Bahn. We had talks with the British of Arriva which started five years ago, and Arriva was acquired in 2010 by Deutsche Bahn", Comana said.

According to information published by press Reuters, the Germans of Deutsche Bahn were supposed to pay 67 million Euros for 70% of the shares, with an option to acquire the rest later, according to some sources close to the transaction.

The representatives of Deutsche Bahn refused to comment the information.

Regiotrans, which has 760 employees, last year had a turnover of 225.5 million lei, up 28.4% compared to 2010, and the profit of the company doubled, to 8.66 million lei, according to data reported to the Ministry of Finance. The company, created in 2005, has two shareholders, Costel Comana and Iorgu Ganea, each with 50% of the shares, and operates passenger trains based on contracts with the Romanian State Railway (CFR).

In 2008, through its subsidiary DB Schenker, Deutsche Bahn acquired Romanian freight forwarding company Romtrans.

In 2010, Deutsche Bahn acquired British railway and bus operator Arriva, in a deal worth 1.59 billion British Pounds.