Romania announces stock exchange privatisations, but no schedule

The Romanian state is seeking to raise 600 million euros from privatisations, without however having a schedule for Stock Exchange listings. What chances does it have when Poland and Austria are coming up with concrete plans of privatisation worth billions of euros?

Poland raised 8 billion euros from privatisations in three years, by honouring its promises and by planning asset sales ahead. In Bucharest, rumours have been the only thing to go by in the past few years.
The Warsaw government learned the lesson of privatising by scheduling asset sales through multi-annual strategies, direct contact with foreign investors and by using diplomats to promote projects.

Romania, pressured by the IMF is discovering the need to privatise, after in the last few years local officials repeatedly promised the Stock Exchange privatisation of energy companies without coming up with a calendar or a privatisation strategy. The only official information is that stakes of 10% in Petrom and of 15% in each of Transgaz (gas transmission company) and Transelectrica (electricity transmission company) could be sold on the Stock Exchange at some point this year.

Competition over investors’ money is however extremely high, with Poland scheduling 4 billion euros’ worth of privatising for this year, and Austria planning to sell 24 billion euros’ worth of stakes on the Vienna Stock Exchange over the next few years.
“We are competing over resources with countries in the region as far as companies’ privatisation through the capital market is concerned. For 2011 projects, Poland has a privatisation schedule since 2008, which it has strictly followed. From secondary offerings of shares of Petrom, Transgaz and Transelectrica, the Romanian state could raise 600 million euros in 2011,” said Laurențiu Ciocârlan, manager of the Primary Offerings department of brokerage firm Raiffeisen Capital&Invest.