Chapter 5 Privatization in Romania from 1989 to 2007

Abstract

The first step in the reform of the Romanian enterprise sector after the collapse of communism was the commercialization of state enterprises. This was completed by 1991. Two types of enterprises were established: regies autonomes and commercial companies. The regies autonomes were legal entities with the social capital owned by the state. This legal status was restricted to enterprises that were “natural monopolies or of public interest or essential for national defense and security.” The governance of regies autonomes of national importance was the responsibility of the ministries, while the governance of regional regies autonomes was devolved to local authorities. The commercial companies were mainly joint stock corporations and about 6,300 of them were incorporated between 1990 and 1991. Their social capital was split between the state-ownership fund (SOF) and five private-ownership funds (POFs, latter called PIFs). Table 1 presents the structure of state holdings at the beginning of privatization in 1992.

Citation

Welch, D. (2007), "Chapter 5 Privatization in Romania from 1989 to 2007", Lieberman, I.W. and Kopf, D.J. (Ed.) Privatization in Transition Economies: The Ongoing Story (Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, Vol. 90), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 205-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1569-3759(07)00005-8