PM Citu: We will repeal Law regarding alienation of state owned shares of national companies

Prime Minister Florin Citu announced on Thursday that the Law regarding the alienation of state-owned shares in national companies will be repealed, as a signal for the capital market, in the sense of attracting new foreign investments in Romania.

"This is not about alienating shares, is it about attracting capital in Romania. This is what we are doing, we are capitalizing these companies. We do not have enough resources in our budget to capitalize all these companies, considering the needs these companies have for these investments and in order for them to grow. And then, of course, a part of the shares from these companies' property is transferred, in exchange for this capital, to other shareholders. It happens everywhere in the world. And moreso, what I have noticed in Romania, as well as in other countries, there where we had capital injections and after that they came with a performing management, with a corporate governance, (...) those companies were saved, developed, hired people, were profitable, paid taxes to the budget. This is the recipe we wish to follow," Citu explained, in an interview for Radio Guerrilla.

"What we are doing by repealing the law does not necessarily mean that as of tomorrow we will begin to sell. No, it is a signal we send to the capital market, to foreign investors that in Romania private property is sacred, firstly, and secondly, that we are not a country that does not want investors to come. So, we are an open economy, a modern economy, knowing how to work with market capital instruments," the prime minister added.

According to him, the sale of Petrom, "generically" speaking, was a "good thing".