In cases where restitution proves impossible, former owners of property are to receive shares in the "Proprietatea" investment fund, which will able to be traded on the stock market as of next year, said Bogdan Olteanu, the minister in charge of relations with Parliament, in an interview for Ziarul Financiar.
The main reason for setting up the fund is to relieve the budget of compensation payments for cases where restitution in kind proves impossible.
The package of property laws was to start being debated publicly yesterday.
The value of the assets to be managed by this fund is 4-4.5 billion euros, said Nicolae Ivan, a secretary of state from the Ministry of Public Finances, at the Banking on Romania workshop organised by The Banker magazine with the support of BCR in London. The value of the fund will cover around 80% of all restitution claims thought to have been submitted.
The fund will have a life span of 10 years, after which it will be liquidated and the assets paid to it shareholders. Ivan has said that a request for floatation on the London Stock Exchange will be forwarded given that the Finance Ministry considers the domestic market too small.
The legislative package aims to solve the property issue in Romania.
The novelty of the solution lies in the way in which compensation will be paid to former owners to whom the state cannot hand back their property.
The minister for relations with Parliament was unwilling to state the level of compensation that will be paid, arguing that a precise evaluation can be made only after the registered notifications and the persons entitled to compensation are known.
"We are talking of billions of euros. The amount of compensation will be lowered by around one billion euros because the cases of restitution in kind will rise in the form of the offices of political parties, embassies and public institutions."
In order to grant the compensation, a decision will be made through the legislative package to establish the "Proprietatea" fund on June 1. By November 1, the process of selecting a well-known foreign firm to manage the Fund is due to be finalised. The manager will enjoy complete freedom of action and have the task of boosting the value of assets through various placements.
The fund will be created with the shares owned in various companies by AVAS, Oficiul Participatiilor Statului si Privatizarii in Industrie (The Office of State Participations and Privatisation in Industry), and the Finance, Transport, Constructions and Tourism, Telecommunications ministries.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
