Creditor Banks Want State Guarantee For CFR Marfa

Mihnea Rău (Tradus de Andrei Năstase)
Ziarul BURSA #English Section / 3 noiembrie 2009

The twelve banks that lent 120 million EUR to the railway company in 2007 now want governmental securities for the same loan

The banks that lent 120 million EUR to CFR Marfa (the Romanian Railway Company - Freight) in November 2007 are now asking the Government to guarantee for the loan, arguing that the debtor has not fully observed its contractual commitments.

The creditor banks froze CFR Marfa accounts a month and a half ago, claiming that the company had breached the terms and conditions of the loan agreement. Subsequent negotiations led to an amendment to the loan agreement under which CFR Marfa accepted a penalty of 100,000 EUR for such breaches and an increase in the interest rate on the loan.

Now, the creditor banks want additional guarantees that they will see their money back. The recent amendment includes a provision that CFR Marfa will support the creditor banks in obtaining State guarantees for the outstanding loan.

The financial condition of CFR Marfa has taken a swift turn for the worse this year. According to the figures for the first eight months of the year (the period just before the ongoing problems with the creditor banks, which started in September) released to BURSA last week, the losses incurred by CFR Marfa exceeded 218 million RON, nearly five times more than in the corresponding period of 2008.

The railway company also reported a turnover of 670 million RON for the first eight months of the year, down by almost 50 per cent year-on-year.

The twelve banks that lent 120 million EUR to CFR Marfa two years ago are: Raiffeisen Osterreich, Raiffeisen Bank, Bank Austria Creditanstalt, Alpha Bank AE, EFG Private Bank, MKB Romexterra Bank, MKB Bank Zrt, Piraeus Bank Romania, Commerzbank Zrt, Emporiki Bank Romania, Calyon and Raiffeisen Landesbank.

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