In relation to the average salary in a certain sector, wages will be six times higher and bonuses will be paid depending on the performance.
The government will cap the wages of state company managers to six times the gross average salary in the respective sector and other compensations will be paid depending on performance, PM Ponta announced yesterday. The capping will be operated through emergency ordinance. The premier explained that the draft of this ordinance also includes provisions “inspired” from the laws of Poland and agreed by the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.
“I saw state companies where we install private managers. I don’t know why we are ministers and do not work instead at Nuclearelectrica, where the smallest income is RON 484,000 a year,” Ponta mentioned, referring to the wages planned for the managers of Nuclearelectrica.
Up to EUR 210,000, the annual wage of a manager of Nuclearelectrica
Company sources said Tuesday for Mediafax that the managers of Nuclearelectrica company might earn EUR 84,000 a year, while the members of the Board might receive monthly fees of maximum RON 76,800. The committee for nomination and wages of the company proposed monthly wages between RON 62,400 (EUR 14,200) and RON 76,800 (EUR 17,500) for the managers of Nuclearelectrica, CEO included. Executive managers currently earn RON 9,228 (EUR 2,100) monthly and the CEO is paid RON 14,851 (EUR 3,400). The members of the Board of Administrators would earn a monthly fee representing 20 pc of the salary of the CEO (between EUR 2,840 and EUR 3,500), plus a performance bonus proposed at 12 monthly fees. The annual sum earned by a member of the Nuclearelectrica Board could thus reach EUR 84,000. The biggest salary of CEO in a state company of the energy sector is paid to the head of Electrica Distributie Transilvania Nord, who earns RON 18,000 (EUR 4,100) each month, according to data presented by the government in April.
The reasons why Posta Romana is not attractive
In his turn, the CEO of Posta Romana, Ion Smeeianu confirmed the rumors about his monthly wage being EUR 6,000, which he considers as justified because “the post is very stressful and generates pressure because of the auctions in which the company faces competition from private operators.” However, the attempts to find an investor in the state company did not bring any good result, as the potential investors interested by the privatisation of the postal operator on Tuesday demanded an extension of the deadline for submitting non-committing offers, after a control by ANAF found new fiscal debts of RON 107 M (EUR 25 M).
Premier Victor Ponta yesterday asked the minister of Communications, Dan Nica to publicly explain that “the thousands of employees hired” by Posta Romana and the unknown losses worth hundreds of millions of RON are the reasons why investors still hesitate to submit offers for the privatisation of the company. The premier added that the government will adopt several measures for supporting Posta Romana. Finally it decided to extend the privatisation time limit by six months and to start a restructuring process for the company, as well as a ‘resettlement’ of debts.
United States, an example for the shale gas sector
Another topic on the agenda of yesterday’s cabinet meeting was the shale gas. Romania has small prices of gas, compared to the countries of the European Union, but prices across Europe “kept climbing” while in the USA they went down, driven by the boom of the shale gas industry. “We must move along the right way the United States are going too,” respectively “exploring new sources of energy, while respecting the norms of environment,” PM Victor Ponta stated.
“This is about the energy security of Romania, the long-term interest, if we further want to depend on gas imports from Russia or from wherever they may come, or if we want to be producers,” Victor Ponta added. The premier also asked Minister of Environment Rovana Plumb to ignore the campaigns aimed against the country’s interest to explore new sources of energy, saying that Romania must be a country that understands its strategic interests, while respecting the norms of environment.
