Bogdan Tudorache

Fondul Proprietatea (FP) expressed ”its extreme disappointment„ with the recent statements of the outgoing Economy Minister, Niculae Badalau, with regards to the current workers’ strikes organized at several units of the National Salt Company (Salrom) related to the company’s Board decision to not award holiday vouchers in 2019.

”The statements offer an inaccurate view of the situation, and have the potential to increase the current tension between the company and the workers, especially considering that it is in breach of the legislation in force on corporate governance of public enterprises”, says FP.

Government Ordinance no. 109/2011 on the Corporate Governance of Public Enterprises (art. 4 paragraph 1), prohibits the Ministry of Economy to interfere with the administration and management of public enterprises. As such, The Minister of Economy is not entitled to request its “urgent” convening of Salrom’s Board of Directors to adopt measures that he approves of, as this amounts to nothing less than State interference with the affairs of the company and is a clear breach of the independence of Salrom’s Board of Directors

Commenting on the matter of Minister of Economy Niculae Badalau’ statements regarding the strikes at Salrom, Johan Meyer, CEO of Franklin Templeton Investments and Portfolio Manager of Fondul Proprietatea said: “First of all, we should not forget that state-owned companies are owned by all Romanians, so they are entitled to have access to accurate and truthful information on matters related to these entities. We are deeply disappointed with any public statements that misleads the public and distorts reality, as it can have many far-reaching, unpredictable consequences that can prove difficult to manage. Secondly, we are concerned whenever a State representative breaches the Corporate Governance Law, disregarding legal principles that are in place to guarantee the independence of SOEs from political interference. We continue to shed light on any deviations from corporate governance rules and advocate for their proper implementation by both SOEs and State representatives, confident that the only way forward is through openly addressing such breaches.”