"SENSATIONAL!" The privatization of CFR Marfă - the same ending as Oltchim, even though Dan Diaconescu was not involved

The authorities did not want a show at the privatization of CFR Marfă and they have succeeded - there won't be any show, but there won't be any privatization either ... for now. None of the three offers submitted in the pre-qualification stage have qualified.

After extending the deadline for drawing up "the shortlist" from 12:00 to 16:00 (even though last Thursday, minister Relu Fenechiu was saying that it wouldn't take more than two days for evaluating the three briefs), the Ministry of Transports bluntly announced, without providing any further details, that, "following the verification and the review of the documentation for participating in the calls for tenders submitted by the potential investors for the pre-qualification procedure in the process for the privatization of SNTFM CFR Marfă, the Privatization Commission set up at the Ministry of Transports, has decided to reject the three potential bidders and to resume the procedure, according to the legal provisions".

A few days ago, minister Fenechiu himself was saying that in order to make sure that not just anybody can participate in this privatization, like it happened in the privatization process of "Oltchim", which was also a failure, the terms are quite drastic. That is why "three important companies in the industry" have submitted offers, which arrived in to the ministry in the last minutes prior to the expiration of the deadline for submitting the prequalification briefs.

The three bidders are Grup Feroviar Român (GFR), part of "Grampet" (a group controlled by Gruia Stoica), Asocierea "Transferoviar Grup (TFG) - Donau-Finanz GmbH & Co KG Austria" and American company "OmniTRAX", which the press wrote that it may have ties to businessman Cristian Burci.

Last Wednesday, Prime-Minister Victor Ponta was saying that he has asked for information about the companies which have submitted paperwork for the privatization of CFR Marfă and that the investors in question are dependable, and he expressed his confidence that they can implement an efficient strategy and went on to say that the company can be viable, but "it's not as easy as it looks".

The Prime Minister said: "I expect that any of the three - because I have asked for information, we are talking about dependable investors - I have confidence that any of the three will have the ability to implement a medium and long term strategy to improve the efficiency of the company, to preserve jobs and to increase competition on the domestic and direct market".

In turn, Relu Fenechiu said that after opening the prequalifying documentation, that the tenders are eligible, and if the sale price had been lower, the number of investors interested would have been greater.

• Fenechiu - In a state of constant indecision on the privatization of CFR Marfă and his resignation

For about ten years now, all the governments that came into power have announced almost every year that CFR Marfă would be privatized, by putting up for debate various strategies for the sale of the company. So far, no call-for-bids was held for the railway freight operator, as the privatization of this company was postponed each time due to various reasons.

The last time an announcement concerning the postponement of the privatization of MT was made was last year, in October, claiming the lack of an approval from the Supreme Defense Council (CSAT).

The statements of Relu Fenechiu on the topic of the privatization of CFR Marfă were numerous and contradictory, over the last few months.

Upon taking over the position of minister of Transports, he said that CFR Marfă would not be privatized, then, just a few days later, after talking to the representatives of the delegation of the IMF, changing his mind and announcing that the sale of the railway operator in fact represents "priority number one", stating that the government would sell 51% of the shares of the company and in a few years it would sell the remaining 49%, and in just a few years, thus helping the state make "a considerable gain ".

At the end of March, the minister was saying that, if he failed to solve the issues of CFR Marfă as well as eliminate the deadlock of POS Transporturi by the end of June, he was likely to leave the government, just like Traian Băsescu wants.

Relu Fenechiu had made a similar statement concerning CFR Marfă at the end of January, after the hearing of the parliamentary commissions for industries concerning the approval of the state budget for the year 2013.

"I think that if CFR Marfă doesn't get privatized, I won't remain a minister anymore, for me it is a huge responsibility and I take it seriously", Fenechiu said at the time.

The Minister of Transports yesterday said, quoted by Mediafax, that he would only resign if the privatization failed because of him, and said that the paperwork submitted by the three investors interested in the privatization of CFR Marfă was rejected because they did not include the required elements.

The authorities had great expectations concerning the privatization of CFR Marfă. On several occasions officials stated that there was major interest in the acquisition of the domestic railroad freight operator. Over the last few weeks, the minister was saying that there were more than 10 major companies interested in CFR Marfă.

The company was going to be privatized by June 20, 2013, a deadline which had been agreed upon with the representatives of the delegation of the IMF.