SOURCES: BONUS OF OVER 300,000 EUROS IN 2014 FOR THE CEO OF THE BSE The Romanian government helped Sobolewski earn his bonus

• The government bonds issue sold to the population has contributed 14.5 million Euros to the anemic liquidity of the BSE

Government support remains vital for the Bucharest Stock Exchange, which doesn't seem to be able to do much on its own.

The transactions by which the Ministry of Finance has 65 million lei worth of bonds yesterday to the population has substantially raised the liquidity of the trading session, as the BSE is seeing a low turnover this year.

The minuscule value of the issue (100 million lei), the unattractive interest rate, as well as the lack of publicity, despite the bombastic statements of the officials, shows that the government didn't have a pressing need for its' citizens' money, as it regularly borrows from banks anyway.

On the other hand, for Ludwik Sobolewski, the CEO of the BSE, who gets an annual performance bonus, aside from his monthly salary, any form of help matters.

Last year, the results of the BSE were boosted by one-off events, like the Electrica IPO, conducted by the state and by the buybacks and sales of shares that the Proprietatea Fund had in its portfolio.

All of those factors were taken into account when the BSE set the CEO's 2014 bonus.

The resulting amount owed to Sobolewski exceeds 300,000 Euros, as he has already negotiated through his contract, having his performance in 2014 compared to that of 2012. According to some sources, the Board of the Exchange has already approved the bonus.

For the three months of work in 2013, the CEO of the BSE has collected a bonus of 150,000 Euros, as the performance criteria had already been met for the most part by the time of his appointment, so that reward can be considered more of an installation incentive.

In 2013, Sobolewski signed a 4-year contract with the BSE, for a gross monthly income of 16,667 Euros, supplemented by a performance bonus ranging between 80 and 150% of the annual gross wage (between 160,000 and 300,000 Euros) and an additional bonus equal to the previous year's compensation (salary plus performance bonus, meaning between 360,000 Euros and 500,000 Euros), according to the draft contract publicized by "BURSA" in July 2014.

2015 is the first year when Sobolewski is going to show what he's capable of, as his bonus will be calculated based on the 2014 results.

• The Ministry of Finance doesn't have much to be pleased about when it comes to the outcome of the government bonds issue

The statements made on the occasion of the launch of the government bond issue of the Ministry of Finance proved extremely awkward upon announcing the official results.

The "never before seen" promotion which the authorities promised has only convinced 1,236 citizens to buy government bonds at 1,000 lei a piece, at an interest rate of 2.15%/annum, with a 2-year maturity.

Monday Night, the Ministry of Finance announced the full allocation of 64,999 million lei of the government bonds for the population subscribed between June 8th and June 19th, as part of the Fidelis pilot program, with a 2 year maturity.

The Ministry of Finance has thus confirmed the information published by BURSA on Monday, that the subscription rate was only 65%, of the 100 million lei of the issued bonds.

Taking into account the fact that the issue was not fully subscribed, the final interest rate was set at 2.15%, the upper value of the interest bracket initially announced, which ranged between 1.75% and 2.15%.

Investors subscribed 64,999 bonds, of which 64,686 through the three banks of the intermediation syndicate, BCR, BRD-Societe Generale and Raiffeisen Bank, through a network of 486 branches distributed all over the country and 313 bonds through eligible participants (financial investment services). A number of 27,810 bonds were subscribed in the primary tier (up to 50 bonds per investor) and 37,189 bonds on the secondary tier (more than 50 bonds).

Out of the total subscriptions, the biggest demand was seen in Bucharest (46.13%), followed by the counties of Sibiu (3.37%), Mehedinţi (2.97%), Alba (2.87), Dolj (2.80%) and Olt (2.76%).

The Ministry of Finance has not sold bonds to the population since 2005, when they were using the inflation rate as a benchmark for the coupon, plus a fixed margin.

Government bonds sold to the population will become tradable on the Bucharest Stock Exchange starting on June 26th 2015.