Extended deadline for submitting non-biding offers for privatization of the Romanian Post

The Ministry for Information Society is deferring again the deadline for submitting non-biding offers and depositing the corresponding guarantee for the privatization of the Romanian Post. So instead of June 30, the new time limit for investors to register in the selection process for taking over the state-owned company is September 30, 2014.

“Privatization of the Post is well under way, with favorable premises for a successful completion. At this point, one of Europe’s largest postal services operators has purchased the Presentation File for 50,000 euro, requesting to defer the deadline for submitting pre-qualification documents so as to have enough time to analyze the 1000-page documentation”, explained Alexandru Petrescu, the new Head of the company, also in charge with the Privatization Commission, according to ZF.

In addition to the 50,000 euro to be paid for the Presentation File, interested investors need to deposit a guarantee of nearly 9.5 million lei (about 2.15 million euro) for being included in the selection process for the privatization initiated last year.

Following several failed attempts to sell the majority stake in the Romanian Post, the privatization is expected to be eventually carried out in 2014. The Government aims at transferring 51 percent of the company’s shares to a private investor following a capital increase. In view of succeeding with the privatization, the company has been working on increasing operational efficiency by reducing working hours, hiring part-time workers, reducing the retail network, cutting down expenses through a more flexible labor supply.

The Romanian Post, the major player in the domestic market, is controlled by the Romanian State through the Ministry for Information Society which is the major shareholder (75 percent of the total shares), the remainder 25 percent being held by Fondul Proprietatea.

In the first quarter of this year, the company had an operating profit of 22.5 million lei (about 5 million euro) on streamlining operations and costs, as per the privatization-related business strategy.