Analysis: Just 25% of companies privatized in Romania in 25 years still exist

The privatization success rate in Romania was under 25% in the last 25 years, when 7,726 state companies were sold and over 2 million jobs lost, says the president of the National Association of Entrepreneurs, Cristina Chiriac. “In 1989 the private sector in Romania did not exist. Since 1990, many privatization programs have been initiated. 7,726 companies were privatized, and less than 25% of those companies still exist. The social effect of the phenomenon is the loss of 2 million jobs,” Cristina Chiriac explained at a conference on the impact of the Fiscal Code on small and medium companies. She pointed out that data come from an analysis of the association made over 1990-2014. In that context, small and medium companies should take over this social responsibility to absorb the people who lost their jobs from public institutions, but unfortunately that sector is neglected by authorities. “That sector is always left behind,” Chiriac said. The president of Brokers’ Association in Romania, Dan Paul, also spoke about privatization. He said that the failure of privatizations in Romania is explained by the form chosen by the state - direct sale, not by means of the stock market, which is a more transparent and safer process, both for the state and for investors. The state avoids this privatization means because “certain people still consider bribery.” He pointed out that privatizations vis stock market eliminate any doubt about the process, companies become transparent, money leakage is avoided, the state correctly gets taxes. “In order to solve come of those problems we should have a government with fewer but better paid ministers,” said the brokers’ representative. However he admits that Bucharest Exchange has a problem about the low level of transaction, and needs to attract investors, including entrepreneurs from small and medium companies. “I cannot offer any guarantees for 2016. We are trying to attract more private investors. There are Romanian industrialists who started developing their businesses and use the stock market as financing alternative,” Dan Paul said.