Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu published a large message on Facebook in which he criticizes Metrorex’s management and supports the need for a deep reform in the Bucharest underground transport company.
It states that Metrorex, which carries more than 600,000 passengers daily, has as its main problem not the financing from the state budget, but the lack of efficient and sustainable long-term managerial decisions.
“The problem with Metrorex is not that it receives money from the state. The problem is that, for years in a row, the company’s management and the Romanian state managed Metrorex without real concern for the long-term health of the company”, wrote the deputy prime minister.
In her message, Oana Gheorghiu emphasized that Metrorex cannot operate as a profit-oriented company, but drew attention to significant financial imbalances.
It mentioned, among other things:
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a cumulative deficit of approximately 1.17 billion lei in the period 2018–2025
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high maintenance costs, of approximately 40 million euros annually
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large differences between the actual cost of a journey and the price paid by passengers
The Deputy Prime Minister stated that such imbalances put constant pressure on the public budget.
In her analysis, Oana Gheorghiu also referred to the internal functioning of the company, including the provisions of the collective labor agreement, which she says would make reforms and the recruitment of new staff difficult.
She mentioned that “hiring would require the consent of the unions, promotions would mostly take place from within, and managerial decisions are often blocked between management, the ministry and the union”.
He also drew attention to the company’s administrative structure, with a large number of posts in the economic and administrative area.
The Deputy Prime Minister claims that Metrorex needs one “recovery management”with a team specialized in restructuring, capable of renegotiating contracts and streamlining the company’s activity.
“A company cannot evolve healthily when management avoids difficult decisions for years and lets problems accumulate”it transmitted.
“Yes, probably at some point the price of the ticket will also have to be discussed honestly. But you can’t ask people to pay more before you clean up the inside of the system. You can’t ask more of the citizen before you cut the absurd costs, fix the imbalances and demonstrate that the existing money is managed responsibly.”.
At the end of the message, Oana Gheorghiu emphasized that Metrorex “does not belong to a party, but to the citizens”, and the main problem of state companies is not the lack of money, but the lack of effective decisions.
