Economy Minister Florin Spataru said he supports amending legislation so that the state can establish new companies in strategic areas, News.ro reports.

“We are updating the national legislation, giving the Romanian state the opportunity to have the necessary tools to continue its strategic activities – the supply of strategic products or services – for Romania. This is a clear message. (…) Romania will have this opportunity to establish companies,” Florin Spataru said on Monday evening in Prima News.

When asked how he convinces taxpayers that the same state that could not make profitable some of the companies it owns will be able to work in the future, the minister replied that the implementation of the rules of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and the Guarantee in this regard is the OECD, to which Romania wants to join as a full member.

“You know very well that we are implementing all measures to be able to join as a full member of the OECD. One of Romania’s obligations is to implement corporate governance procedures in accordance with OECD norms, in this case in Romania, the well-known Decree 109. This is a guarantee that Romania will implement for all state-owned companies procedures for the selection of management teams, including administrators and CEOs, with appropriate performance indicators according to OECD rules,” he said.

He also noted that this is “a public selection procedure in which all persons who have the necessary skills in this field can participate.”

The Minister of Economy cites Romarm as an example of a profitable company

According to Spataru, the Ministry of Economy has 34 companies in which it is the majority shareholder, some of them are profitable, and others are at the stage of implementing restructuring programs at their level.

Among the companies that, according to the minister, were “affected” and where restructuring programs are being implemented, are Romaero and Carfil, a manufacturer of military equipment.

However, he cited Romarm as an example in the opposite direction, saying that in 2022 its turnover had doubled compared to previous years.

“Romarm has a turnover that has doubled in 2022 compared to previous years, but it should be taken into account that the level of turnover of Romarm in previous years was relatively low. Therefore, in this context, this increase in turnover is natural,” said the Minister of Economy.

At the same time, he denied that the war in Ukraine doubled the national company’s turnover in the defense industry, saying that the doubling took place in the context of “the geopolitical situation and the need to provide additional reserve stocks of NATO countries and Romania.” .

At Romarm, the economic director temporarily took over the position of Gabriel Tsutsu, who is being investigated for corruption in a case that also involves former breeder Viktor Pitsurka.