Market development 33 Calafat
Bechet
We want the central and the local authorities to have equal representations in the shareholding of Constanţa Port, following the European example”, pointed out the former minister. According to the declarations of the president of the Commission for Transport and Infrastructure of the Chamber of Deputies, Mihai Lupu, the state has to maintain its authority, because if the port is controlled by a private operator, competition problems could arise. “Most of the factors involved, including the port operator, has expressed support for the state to control this activity, because if the port is controlled by a private operator, the competition element will arise, as well as the most important element which is the representation of all economic segments in the port activity”, he said.
Smaller ports, controlled by local administrations In November 2013, Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced that the decentralization law also includes smaller ports with not much activity or traffic. If they are transferred to local authorities, they could access European funds to implement modernisation projects which could contribute to development. “We are not talking by Constanţa Port, which is not a Danube port, we are not talking about Galaţi and Brăila either, which are already private, as far as I know. We are talking about smaller ports, such as Calafat, Bechet, Turnu Severin, which, unfortunately, don’t have much traffic or economic activity or financial resources. The activity of such ports is managed by local authorities all over Europe”, Ponta said.
Drobeta Turnu Severin
In May 2014, the Prime Minister supported once again the transfer of Danube ports to local administration and announced that Tulcea Port project was already in progress and would be adopted. “I fully support this idea. It is not the case for Galaţi because most facilities are already private. We are talking about Tulcea Port which has no development capacity in the future and I believe that it could access European funds if managed by Tulcea Local Council. We are also talking about the other Danube ports, except for Galaţi and Brăila, which can further develop if managed and backed by local authorities and by accessing funds through European projects, Danube Strategy, Regional Operational Programme”, said Ponta. The process is advanced for Drobeta Turnu Severin Port as local councillors have approved the proposal for the takeover of state-owned buildings located at Drobeta Turnu Severin Port and in the concession of the National Company Administration of Danube River Ports in Giurgiu. The interim president of Mehedinţi Local Council, Aladin Georgescu, said that the decision was a first step towards transferring the administration of Drobeta Turnu Severin Port from the Ministry of Transport to the local administration. “We have approved the takeover of Drobeta Turnu Severin Port. We know that there are several complex procedures to follow, financing sources have to be established, we have to get the permits of the Ministry of Finances, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Justice. We will see how things will go on, if this Government decision project is promoted”, Georgescu said. He explained that taking over the port in the council administration would be beneficial for the community especially since there was the intention of developing projects with European financing for the development of the Danube port infrastructure to boost tourism in the cross-border area.
Румынские власти продолжают идею децентрализации портов Власти Румынии намереваются изменить состав акционеров нескольких портов. Их акции будут переданы местным властям, которые могут расходовать бюджет более эффективным способом и могут легче иметь доступ к европейскому финансированию. Наряду с портом Констанцы это касается нескольких менее крупных Дунайских портов, кроме портов Галац и Брэила. Речь идет о нескольких небольших портах - Калафат, Бекет, Турну Северин и Турну Мэгуреле, которые, к сожалению, на данный момент не имеют ни особого трафика или экономической деятельности, ни финансовых ресурсов. July 2014 | www.railwaypro.com