Ford prepares new financial offer for Automobile Craiova

The financial offers for the privatization of the Romanian company will be opened when the American car constructor submits its improved offer. The Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS) made its request for an improved offer at the beginning of August and added that the transaction would be completed through a special law.
Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said the main issue under negotiation with the Ford representatives was the debts of the Romanian company, as the American firm wants to take over a company with no financial burdens.
The technical offer submitted by Ford in July for the privatization of the Romanian company estimated the yearly spending of Ford in Romania would reach EUR 1 billion in 2012, while direct investments in the modernization of the production site would reach EUR 675 million.
Analysts of the local market estimate the value of Automobile Craiova at about EUR 800 million, considering significant technological investments, which means that the Romanian state could get more than EUR 500 million for its share of the company.
The next meeting between the privatization commission of the company and the Ford representatives will take place at the middle of August.

Roxana Mihul