Tense meeting at CFR Călători

The members of the Board of Directors of CFR Călători are expected to participate today in the extraordinary meeting urgently convened by the company's administrators after the general director Traian Preoteasa sent, without consulting them, an official address in which he invoked the "situation of entering into insolvency" of the state railway operator, according to information published by the Club Feroviar website.

The cited source indicates that the members of the Board of Directors learned from the press about the existence of the document drawn up and signed by Traian Preoteasa, a fact that displeased them and led them to convene today's meeting to discuss the real financial situation of CFR Călători and, possibly, to decide, based on this situation, the company's entry into insolvency or a change of management. The situation overlaps with a tense context: last week the suspension of some passenger services was announced, and later the warning was rescheduled with an application deadline of October 1, a sign of the acute problems that CFR Călători is facing.

We note that, in the address sent to the Ministry of Transport, the Secretariat of State and other institutions in the field, Traian Preoteasa, the general director of CFR Călători, drew attention to the fact that the public operator of passenger rail transport is "in danger of stopping traffic" due to the lack of liquidity, emphasizing that 95% of the monthly expenses are strictly necessary for the operation of the public service: infrastructure usage fee, fuel, traction energy, salaries, repairs and maintenance. The document was also signed by the financial director Aida Hanganu, and the message sent was that the lack of resources can also affect the safe operation of rail transport.

The financial data presented are also worrying: losses of 205.3 million lei in the first seven months of 2025 and total debts of 625 million lei. Of this amount, over 114 million lei are arrears to CN CFR SA, over 71 million lei to Electrificare CFR, almost 107 million lei to diesel suppliers, 118.6 million lei to repair companies and another over 196 million lei to maintenance, security, utilities and other service providers. In addition, there are debts of over 17 million lei to sanitation companies, which outlines a generalized financial pressure on CFR Călători.

In light of the above, today's meeting of the Board of Directors promises to be decisive for the future of the state railway operator. Administrators will have to determine whether a change of management, recourse to recovery measures or even insolvency is required, at a time when internal tensions and financial difficulties risk directly affecting passenger transport services.