First came the SIFs in 1992, and then the privatisation coupons in 1996, followed now by the shares of national state-owned companies granted as reparations to former owners of nationalised houses in Romania.

This is already regarded as the biggest business on the Romanian market for the years to come, with the reparations to be thus awarded amounting to 8 to 10bn euros. The shares that will be acquired in strategic energy companies like Transelectrica, Nuclearelectrica, Transgaz, Romgaz or mining companies are supposed to be traded on a specially regulated market inside the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE), experts with the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the originator of the project told Ziarul Financiar.

"No inventory of these companies has been made yet, given that a meeting should be held among representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, of the Finance Ministry, of the State Assets Resolution Authority (AVAS) and of the State Domains Agency to centralise all the companies whose shares will be offered as reparations. Many companies have not had their share capital reappraised since 1994 or 1997-1998 and an increase in their capital by using the differences resulted from the reassessment is a possibility. Their assets are worth 4 or 5 times more than the existing share capital," the originators of the draft say. "We will propose a set of modifications to Law 10/2001 on the legal status of certain buildings abusively seized by the communist regime between March 6, 1945 and December 22, 1989, which target the possibility to have these shares traded on a specially established market. The Economy Ministry is discussing it with the BSE and RASDAQ. What else are we to do? Award reparations at the nominal value of the shares when the shares may be worth several times more? This addresses another issue, as well. Who is to be given shares in case of ove