Frozen debts for monitored SOEs

Budgetary debts accumulated by monitored state-owned enterprises (SOE) will be frozen by December 31, 2006, while interests and penalties will be canceled, in line with an emergency ordinance on reducing arrearage, Romanian Finance minister Mihai Tanasescu stated in Brussels. According to the law draft, budgetary debts of the targeted companies would be completely erased on January 1, 2007, in case the respective companies manage to pay their current debts during the period arrears are frozen. Should the current debts not be paid over this interval, all these obligations, as well as associated penalties, would be re-included in the companies’ accounting balance. Several electrical energy and natural gas distributors, which are going to be privatised, will get capital infusions worth 2,000bn ROL and 6,000bn ROL, respectively. The funds are to be used to pay debts to suppliers and other overdue obligations. ZF