The listing of the Proprietatea Fund, the last hope of the Universitatea Craiova football club

The owner of Universitatea Craiova views the listing of the Proprietatea Fund on the Stock Exchange as the last chance to prevent the financial collapse of the club. Adrian Mititelu repeatedly said that, following the trading of the shares that he is set to receive from the Proprietatea Fund (ed. note: he is the owner of several rights of succession), he would make approximately 80 million Euros, with the entire amount to be invested in the football club of Craiova. Relying on this money, the owner of the club of last summer hired Victor Piţurcă to train the team, and promised him a Champions League-level budget for the 2011-2012 season. "I"m hoping to solve the financial side in the coming two-three years, we are supposed to receive about 80 million Euros", said Adrian Mititelu, at the end of the first round of the 2010-2011 championship edition. The club currently has extremely large unpaid debts, in the range of millions of Euros, both to the state and to its own players.

With just a few days left to the long awaited listing, the club of Craiova is being shaken by a huge scandal involving its owner, its managing director, as well as its staff and its supporters. Urged by trainer Victor Piţurcă to pay the outstanding wages of its players, Mititelu quickly came into open conflict with him. Eventually, the definitive breakup occurred as the Board of Directors of the club yesterday announced that it has decided to indefinitely suspend the contract of Victor Piţurcă, as well as those of his collaborators. In this scandal, many of the supporters sided with the trainer, whom they noisily supported at the team"s training camp. Fans feel that the promises of Adrian Mititelu are empty and that he may drive the club into bankruptcy while waiting to get rich from the shares in the Proprietatea Fund which he claims he owns.

Unfortunately for the club"s supporters, improving the financial situation of the club is no easy task and it does not depend on the listing of the Proprietatea Fund. The restitution case is still on trial and it may take several months until everything is straightened out.

5 years ago, Adrian Mititelu took over the inheritance rights of a plot of land in Craiova with a surface of 100 hectares, which belonged to Costică Negoescu. No less than 43 hectares of the total surface of the plot, which were later transferred to the company called Societatea pentru Renaşterea Fotbalului Craiovean SRL, controlled by Mititelu, can no longer be returned in kind. In 2008, his lawyers launched the procedure for receiving reparations. Meanwhile, Mihai Negoescu, Dorel Petrescu and Ovidiu Vrapcea have filed a lawsuit to win the inheritance rights. The latter two are only involved in the case as they bought back from Mihai Negoescu the rights over the land in question. Adrian Mititelu repeatedly said that the their lawsuit won"t hold up in court and said it was just another attempt to temporarily freeze the club"s operations.