Listing of state-owned companies: PSD opposes, Government invokes billions of lei that will go into the budget

The Senate Economic Committee issued a favorable report yesterday for the legislative project initiated by PSD regarding the prohibition of the listing on the stock exchange, until December 31, 2027, of profitable state-owned companies. The initiative is being debated under emergency conditions and is expected to be voted on by the Senate plenary next week, at a time when the entire public construction regarding the "obligation" of listing state-owned companies is starting to totter under its own weight.

PSD Senator Ştefan Radu Oprea, former Secretary General of the Government in the Bolojan Cabinet, explained that he voted for the project in the Economic Commission and argued that the move was justified by the way the Executive handled the subject. Oprea rejects claims that the PSD would have known about the documents regarding the companies proposed for listing and states that they "were never discussed in the inter-ministerial committee for corporate governance that Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu chairs”.

Furthermore, the senator describes a non-transparent decision-making process, claiming that he received the documents last week, "Wednesday evening at 10:08 p.m.”, while the government meeting took place on Thursday, at 11:00 a.m.

"One argument for listing on the stock exchange is transparency, and when you use opaque methods (...) it is obvious that you can no longer trust that the intentions are good for Romanians,” states Radu Oprea, who also criticizes the proposed method for selling state stakes, pointing out that the documents provide for accelerated listings (ABB) "at a discount, to groups selected quickly”, procedures that take "24-48 hours”. Under these conditions, his conclusion is radical: "Listing on the stock exchange is not a joke, nor a solution for the state to get some more money by giving up the dividends it collects year after year”. The question he formulates is a direct one: "Whose interests does Oana Gheorghiu represent when she introduces such documents to the government? Certainly not those of the Romanians”.

Beyond the political dispute, the real stakes are different, and this emerges even from the government documents and from the explanations offered publicly. Milestone 443 of the PNRR, obsessively invoked to justify listings, would no longer strictly require the sale of shares from state-owned companies, but would now be about two options: restructuring or listing of at least three state-owned companies, with a deadline of August 31, 2026. Moreover, Romania has already proposed to the European Commission the option of restructuring, not listing, to meet this milestone.

Specifically, the Government has sent to Brussels a scenario that aims to restructure three companies: Tipografica CFR and Telecomunicaţii CFR, which are to be absorbed by CFR SA to reduce administrative costs, and Electrocentrale Grup.

"We have chosen the companies for which the calendar allows us to meet the milestone," explained Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu, indicating that the process is ongoing and that the Government is awaiting validation by the European Commission.

This reality radically changes the perspective: listing is not an obligation, but a fallback solution. The Deputy Prime Minister herself explicitly acknowledged this, stating, during a press conference held at AMEPIP, that the accelerated sale of share packages was put on the table "in case we fail to restructure three companies in such a way as to reach our milestone”. She specified that it was a "back-up solution”, adopted "as a precautionary measure”, until a response from the Commission was received, estimated "in the next two to three weeks”.

However, in the public space, this back-up solution was transformed into a national emergency. Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu presented a list of 22 strategic companies, and AMEPIP subsequently came up with a preliminary list of 11 companies that could be listed or opened to the capital market. The list includes big names in energy and infrastructure - Electrocentrale Bucureşti SA, Compania Naţională de Investimenti CNI SA, CNAIR SA, Loteria Română SA, Compania Naţională Aeroporturi Bucureşti SA, but also local operators such as STB SA, Compania de Transport Public Iaşi SA, Compania de Transport Public Cluj-Napoca SA, Salubris SA or Amenajare Edilitară şi Salubrizare Sector 5 SA.

The presence of companies subordinated to local authorities on this list raises an additional major problem: the violation of local autonomy. Given that these companies are controlled by local administrations and manage essential public services, their inclusion in a listing process promoted from the center can be interpreted as a direct interference in the right of local authorities to manage their own companies.

However, the real argument behind the rush seems to be of a budgetary nature. The documents show that the listing of additional packages in Hidroelectrica, Romgaz and Transgaz, of 5-10%, 5-7% and a maximum of 5% respectively, could bring between 5.3 and 9.4 billion lei to the state budget, according to the quotations of March 2026. In the case of CEC Bank, considered the "strongest IPO candidate", the valuation is 5.4 billion lei, and the listing is proposed for the fourth quarter of 2026, with the state maintaining majority control.

In this context, the ABB method becomes essential for understanding the mechanism. It is about accelerated sales of shares, carried out in a few hours or a maximum of 1-2 days, addressed to institutional investors and carried out, as a rule, at a discount to the market price.

"An accelerated listing means that I choose the moment when I sell a block of shares (...) and with a discount that I can calculate and consider advantageous", explained Oana Gheorghiu, in the press conference held at AMEPIP. Translated into simple terms, the state sells quickly, en bloc, to large investors, accepting a lower price in order to obtain immediate liquidity.

This logic fuels the suspicion that the entire operation is not about reform, but about money. The deputy prime minister's formulation indirectly confirms it: "let's bring the money home". At the same time, the state would give up constant flows of dividends in favor of punctual receipts, useful for covering the deficit, but questionable in the long term.

The political dispute comes to cover a much more inconvenient reality: milestone 443 could be met without any listing, by restructuring the three companies already proposed. And if this option exists and is being validated by the European Commission, the haste with which the company lists and the accelerated sale scenarios were released to the market can no longer be explained by the PNRR. Instead, it becomes perfectly explainable by budgetary pressure and the urgent need for liquidity.