The privatization of CFR Marfă is the way for the state to clean up again the debts of CFR SA, after it erased the almost 4 billion lei of debts which CFR owed to the state budget, by converting it into shares.

According to some government sources quoted by Mediafax, CFR Marfă will take on budget debts of 606 million lei from CFR SA, by offsetting some of the amounts through the amounts which the company has in the infrastructure company, and the budget claims will be converted into stock, meaning that the privatization revenues will go to the state budget.

"There will be an emergency ordinance through which CFR Marfă will take on the debt of 606 million lei which CFR Infrastructură owes the ANAF. Through this operation, the ANAF will discharge CFR Infrastructură of its debt, and CFR Marfă will partially extinguish its debt towards CFR Infrastructură. In the second step, the state will have the ability to convert into stock the debt it took on, for the purpose of privatization".

"This procedure will also significantly reduce the arrears of the state-owned companies monitored by the IMF, as well as replenish the budget revenues", the quoted sources said, adding that the operation has also been discussed with the representatives of the European Commission.

CFR SA owes 610 million lei to the state - overdue debts which accrued in less than a year, as stated a few days ago by Dimitris Sophocleous, the general manager of the company, who said: "CFR accrues debts of 40-45 million every month. (...) CFR has financial difficulties, as at the end of 2012 it had financial arrears to the state budget and to the suppliers of electricity. Almost all of the accounts of the company are frozen by the ANAF and by the employees, who were awarded the rights to their salaries which were unpaid since 2008, and earned in court".

Aside from the overdue amount