IMF: Top-40 State-Owned Companies To Hire Private Managers

05.10.2011 By Andrei Circhelan

Romania’s largest 30 to 40 state-owned companies will have private management, and the government will employ an internationally acknowledged head hunting firm for executive selection, according to Jeffrey Franks, the head of the IMF delegation to Romania.

The IMF is currently monitoring 154 state-owned companies, but not all of them can afford private management, Franks told MEDIAFAX in an interview.

"We haven't defined the exact number yet, but we are thinking about somewhere in the range of 30 to 40 of the largest. There are hundreds of firms we are monitoring... we have a database of 154, but for the smaller ones it doesn't make sense, because the cost of hiring international private management is probably too high," Franks said.

He added the executives could be Romanians or foreigners, as the human resources firms will organize an international selection process.

Romania has a two-year precautionary agreement with the IMF, the European Union and the World Bank, worth EUR5 billion.