Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 SOEs in Romania State of the play and some lessons Sorin Ioniţă Sorin.ionita@expertforum.ro Bucharest, Feb 2016
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Legacies In 1989 everything in the economy in ECE was SOE (almost, depending on country) Disinvestment of state: rapid, uneven, various institutional legacies (mechanisms, corporate culture) Effects today: (i) still larger SOE sector than EU average; (ii) special category of “leftovers” – privatization tried and failed
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Legacies
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Legacies SOEs employment, % in total
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Romanian SOEs About 1400 SOEs, out of which 250 majority owned by CG; the rest by LGs 300.000 employees (about 25% of the public sector) Up to 10% SOEs are régies autonomes, i.e. not under general company law Among the largest employers: Posta Romana, almost 25,000 jobs
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Sectors
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Romania Dominated by energy, mining and transportation Large SOEs with very heterogeneous performance: some profitable, some black holes On average, SOE sector = low profitability; high arrears to state budget; failed to invest in network infrastructure (one stated reason for their existence)
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Romania
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Inefficiency Why is that? Legacies (path dependence)? Less enforcement in tax collection in SOE sector (social=political concerns)? Poor definition of social service obligations in contracts (so non-payment = compensation of sorts)? (However the biggest non-payers do not seem to have social service obligations: coal mines, CFR Marfa)
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Inefficiency Progress in past years: a few SOEs in energy sector (gas, hidro, nuclear) make profits; mostly market liberalization (EU) rational behaviour The rest, still loses. Biggest losers: mining (coal), CFR (3), airline (Tarom) Conflict of interest in line ministries: (i) owners; (ii) regulators, sectoral strategies, privatizations. Weak basis for good corporate governance
Sorin Ionita - Politici locale Curs 1 Policy reform OUG 109/2011 Professionalization of board / management selection; separation ownership / policy making; clarity in public service obligations; transparency in operation and minority shld protection Inconsistent implementation: only about 30 SOEs, procedures were undermined in practice