Mystery surrounds negotiations with Sweden

Swedish consortium Scania might still be interested in Roman Brasov, if the Romanian Government opts for the takeover of certain Romanian enterprises by Swedish companies as a payment for Romania’s debts towards Sweden, according to sources close to negotiations.

On the other hand, government sources say this option has already been expressed on Monday night, when Premier Adrian Nastase handed his Swedish counterpart the Romanian party’s proposal to pay the debts. After the meeting, the Premier confirmed that the document included a proposal regarding this issue.

Romanian officials are still reluctant to provide details on the Government’s choice. Executive spokesperson Claudiu Lucaci on Wednesday told Ziarul Financiar that he could not specify which of the three variants to solve the dispute was chosen by the Premier. It is certain that negotiations between the two Governments will resume on May 21.

The two parties, represented by state secretaries within the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Finance Ministry and Justice Ministry, had previously reached an agreement on each of the three variants, of which the Romanian Government was supposed to choose one.

The first way to solve the dispute was the possibility to resort to international arbitration. The second would be Romania’s possibility to pay the entire amount in a single tranche.

The third would be a combination between instalments and the possibility that several Swedish companies take over Romanian enterprises, on condition that the buyers invest an amount equal with the payments made by Romania in instalments.

Sources within financial circles say the cash option is the most unlikely, as Romania cannot afford such expenses. The most likely solution would be the takeover of several Romanian enterprises by the Swedes.