The newly founded Carpatica Feroviar (CF) stands to take over from Romania’s soon-to-be bankrupt state rail freight operator CFR Marfă. The takeover plan is mired in controversy, as it is widely seen as a ploy to get rid of the latter company’s sky-high debt. Even after Romanian authorities issued a reassurance that all would be in compliance with EU law, a fear of legal trickery remains.
The long-time debt-ridden CFR Marfă will be officially liquidated as soon as CF is ready to start operations, according to Daniel Apostolache, CFR Marfă’s general director. The liquidation is supposed to take place in March of next year.
However, in order to start operations, Carpatica Feroviar needs rolling stock. And that rolling stock is supposed to come from no other company than the company it is supposed to replace, CFR Marfă. Apostolache announced that the CF will acquire 200 locomotives and 6,500 freight wagons from the current state operator.
Public tender is the only legal option
Simona Istrate, director of Romania’s private rail association OPSFPR, explained to RailFreight.com that legally, CF should acquire the rolling stock through a public tender. It raises the question of how it is already known beforehand which rolling stock CF stands to gain.
“The figures circulating probably refer to rolling stock fit for traffic”, explains Istrate. CF should acquire those locomotives and wagons through a public procedure, which “would probably be the only solution for economic discontinuity”, she says. “The takeover of even a single locomotive from CFR Marfă can only be done on the basis of a public tender, and the takeover by the new company through lease or bailment would be illegal.”
Multi-billion euro debt
If not through a public procedure, “the Commission will consider that CF is the economic successor of CFR Marfă”, says the OPSFPR director. Were that to happen, it would also judicially take on CFR Marfă’s multi-billion euro debt, which is the reason why Romania needs a new operator in the first place. “We can expect a series of legal fireworks”, Istrate comments.
Romania seems to be treading a fine line, legally speaking. It remains unclear how CF will acquire the CFR Marfă rolling stock in compliance with the law and without being seen as the company’s successor. Simona Istrate floats the idea that, hypothetically, a public tender with CF as the only participant could take place.
Fraudulent maneuvers
The private Romanian rail sector does not seem to have a whole lot of confidence in the legality of the establishment of Carpatica Feroviar. “Our fears are related to the continuation of fraudulent maneuvers by government officials”, Istrate says.
“In a competitive market, it is incomprehensible how CFR Marfă still holds an operating license and is still allowed access to the railway infrastructure, given that it has enormous debts for the payment of the access fee to the infrastructure manager CFR. The rail freight operators in Romania want a simple fact: the certainty that they operate in a fair market and that the competition rules are properly applied.”