The National Railway Company (CFR) SA, and the companies CFR Calatori SA (railway transport of passengers) and Metrorex SA (subway transportation) will be exempt from paying some of their budget dues for 2003, up to 2,685 billion ROL (some $80m).
The Government has decided to cancel the three companies' obligations for the financial year 2003 up to a limit of 2,685,057 million ROL. The three companies are in debt to the State budget, the State social security budget, the health budget and the unemployment budget.
Therefore, the National Railway Company CFR SA will be excused from paying budget obligations up to a limit of 1,467 billion ROL, while the companies CFR Calatori and Metrorex will be exempt from debts accounting for 1,019 billion ROL, namely 198 billion ROL.
Traian Panait, State Secretary with the Transport, Constructions and Tourism Ministry, has said the incentive is meant to subsidise transportation.
CFR Calatori and Metrorex officials claim, in their turn, that the measure endorsed by the Government will make the companies finish the financial year 2003 with a clean slate.
"This amount will be logged as a plus in the 2003 balance sheet, should these obligations be cancelled," Valentin Bota, general manager of CFR Calatori, said.
He added the company's revenues surged this year, as "2003 was the first year when passenger traffic did not drop."
Marius Lepadat, general manager of Metrorex, explained the exemption occurred because the gap between the tickets' real price and the price paid by the passengers needed to be covered from the budget. "The subvention level granted by the State for the subway transportation amounts to 55%, compared to 70% in other countries," Lepadat also said.
Metrorex revenues went up 30% this year from 2002. The transport company's debts totalled 6,349 billion ROL (203 million euros) at the end of last year, when it also posted losses worth 5.7 million euros (179 billion ROL) and 1,314 billion ROL in turnover (42 million euros), according to the company's balance sheet submitted to the Finance Ministry.
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