Romanian authorities are planning to change the shareholding structure of several ports which would be transferred to local authorities so that they could spend budgets much more efficiently and access European financing easier. Several smaller Danube ports are considered next to Constanta Port, except for Galaţi and Brăila ports.
Constanta Port is owned by the Romanian State through the Ministry of Transport with 60% of the shares, jointly with Constanta Municipality and Fondul Proprietarea (Property Fund), each with 20% of shares. Although this process has attracted many conflicting discussions, the document for the transfer of part of the shares in Constanta Port to the Local Council has already been signed, according to the latest declarations of the former Romanian Minister of Transport Dan Şova.
“The transfer of 13% of what the Ministry of Transport currently owns, which is 60%, is an operation made in conformity with the European Union regulations. The European Commission is notified about this operation and the technical aspects of the operation will not be carried out unless in conformity with the agreement we will have with the European Commission”, declared Şova.
The European Commission will decide about the intention of the Romanian authorities of transferring 13% of the shares of Constanţa Port to the local administration, Şova announced. He also added that procedures for getting the permits from the Ministry of Finances and the Ministry of Justice would then begin.
“Maintaining the centralism of the Ministry of Transport in Constanţa Port has nothing to do with European realities. Moreover, in 2008, when 20% of the shares were transferred for free, nobody required the approval of the European Union. On 5 May, we notified EC proving that the strategic infrastructure will remain in the state‘s property and under the administration of the ministry and we asked them to determine whether it creates a disloyal advantage to Constanţa Local Council through this transfer”, the former minister said.
According to him, if EC approves it, Romanian authorities will begin getting the permits from the Ministry of Finances and the Ministry of Justice, then they will trade a 14% stake of the shares owned in Constanţa Port Administration (APC).
“We are talking about a company that only manages the port, as its shareholding pertains to the Romanian State.
The free transfer of the 13% stake and the trading of the 14% stake of the shares owned in APC are part of the ministry’s strategy on Romania’s EU membership. We want the central and the local authorities to have equal representations in the shareholding of Constanţa Port, following the European example”, pointed out the former minister.
According to the declarations of the president of the Commission for Transport and Infrastructure of the Chamber of Deputies, Mihai Lupu, the state has to maintain its authority, because if the port is controlled by a private operator, competition problems could arise. “Most of the factors involved, including the port operator, has expressed support for the state to control this activity, because if the port is controlled by a private operator, the competition element will arise, as well as the most important element which is the representation of all economic segments in the port activity”, he said.
Smaller ports, controlled by local administrations
In November 2013, Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced that the decentralization law also includes smaller ports with not much activity or traffic. If they are transferred to local authorities, they could access European funds to implement modernisation projects which could contribute to development. “We are not talking by Constanţa Port, which is not a Danube port, we are not talking about Galaţi and Brăila either, which are already private, as far as I know. We are talking about smaller ports, such as Calafat, Bechet, Turnu Severin, which, unfortunately, don’t have much traffic or economic activity or financial resources. The activity of such ports is managed by local authorities all over Europe”, Ponta said.
In May 2014, the Prime Minister supported once again the transfer of Danube ports to local administration and announced that Tulcea Port project was already in progress and would be adopted.
“I fully support this idea. It is not the case for Galaţi because most facilities are already private. We are talking about Tulcea Port which has no development capacity in the future and I believe that it could access European funds if managed by Tulcea Local Council. We are also talking about the other Danube ports, except for Galaţi and Brăila, which can further develop if managed and backed by local authorities and by accessing funds through European projects, Danube Strategy, Regional Operational Programme”, said Ponta.
The process is advanced for Drobeta Turnu Severin Port as local councillors have approved the proposal for the takeover of state-owned buildings located at Drobeta Turnu Severin Port and in the concession of the National Company Administration of Danube River Ports in Giurgiu. The interim president of Mehedinţi Local Council, Aladin Georgescu, said that the decision was a first step towards transferring the administration of Drobeta Turnu Severin Port from the Ministry of Transport to the local administration. “We have approved the takeover of Drobeta Turnu Severin Port. We know that there are several complex procedures to follow, financing sources have to be established, we have to get the permits of the Ministry of Finances, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Justice. We will see how things will go on, if this Government decision project is promoted”, Georgescu said.
He explained that taking over the port in the council administration would be beneficial for the community especially since there was the intention of developing projects with European financing for the development of the Danube port infrastructure to boost tourism in the cross-border area.
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