The management of state-owned companies must be aligned with their activity, Minister of Economy Radu Miruta said on Monday, adding that he has proposed an approach that would allow professionals to access these positions.

‘I understand there is a coalition meeting this evening at 17:30. A draft amendment to the law is currently under public debate, whereby the management of these state-owned companies would come under the coordination of the General Secretariat of the Government. I have proposed a different approach that would ensure professionals can reach those positions,’ the minister said.

According to him, ‘one of the challenges’ in the discussions is amending Ordinance 109 on the corporate governance of public enterprises, ‘so that the management of state-owned companies functions properly for those companies – and this needs to happen as soon as possible, because the sooner we stop harm that is already happening in some cases, the better it will be for the Romanian state.’

‘The Romanian state has suffered due to the management of companies that were supposed to manage, in the state’s interest, the resources under their control. That didn’t really happen if we look at the past 35 years. The situation of many of these companies has gone from profit, to reduced profit, to loss, to insolvency – and some into bankruptcy. We need to stop this downhill slide, apply the brakes, and gradually begin to climb back up,’ Miruta added.

The minister noted that within 24 hours of announcing the call for applications to leadership roles in state-owned companies, he received 600 CVs from interested candidates – and by Monday morning, the number had reached 1,700.

‘Romania is not a poor country. It is a country that has been impoverished, because Romanians do not feel the benefit of living in a country that has such resources in their own pockets,’ Radu Miruta explained.

AGERPRES