Blidar: I do not know who will rush to buy insolvent companies

Autor: Mirabela Tiron 07.04.2011

Valer Blidar, one of the most important Romanian industrialists, who controls Astra Vagoane Călători, says he mulled taking over a stake in Cristian Burci's carriage plants, which are insolvent and for which legal administrators are seeking an investor.

"These plants' debts are much too high, with that money I could build five carriage plants. I am not interested in buying them because of the (debt) pile they have," says Valer Blidar, who developed a group of companies in several fields with turnovers worth several tens of million euros.

Blidar, 65, and Burci, 45, control two of Romania's largest rail companies, with the difference that Blidar has focused on carriages (Astra Vagoane Călători), while Burci centred on freight transport (Astra Vagoane Arad, Meva and Romvag-companies under insolvency).

Burci's plants, with 230m-euro total turnover in 2009, went insolvent in late 2010. The consolidated value of their debts amounts to almost 150m euros, of which 100m euros are owed to RBS Romania, ING Bank, Citibank Europe and Piraeus Bank.

"I do not know who will rush to buy these plants," Blidar said.

Blidar maintains his company's sales in the first quarter dropped by 70% from a year ago on the plummeting Middle East markets.