Increased allowances from Bucharest Airports. The Minister of Transport: “They are double my salary” / How he explains the approval of the amounts by the ministry he leads
Ciprian Şerban, at the time of taking over the mandate from the Ministry of Transport. Photo: Inquam Photos / Mălina Norocea
The compensations of 27,000 lei net approved for the members of the Board of Directors of the company “Aeroporturi Bucuresti” are high, something acknowledged by the Minister of Transport Ciprian Șerban. “They are higher than my allowance, even double”, said the minister, when asked by HotNews how he explains the allowances which are higher even than at private companies much more efficient than Bucharest Airports.
The Minister invoked Law 158/2025 on corporate governance assumed by the Bolojan Government in the Romanian Parliament. This stipulates that the compensation of CA representatives in a state-owned company “cannot exceed a maximum of twice the average over the last 12 months” of the gross average salaries per branch communicated by the National Institute of Statistics.
Compensation of 27,000 lei net at Bucharest Airports, approved by the Ministry of Transport / The Proprietatea Fund's proposal of 11,000 lei was rejected
The minister admits that the allowances could be at the level of an average gross salary per branch
“They respect the percentage established by law, more specifically a maximum of two gross average salaries per branch according to the INS,” the minister declared.
However, the provision of the law says “it cannot exceed”, which means that it can be lower. Asked about this aspect, Ciprian Şerban admitted that the allowance can be set at the level of a single average salary. “It can also be a salary,” said the minister.
Ciprian Şerban claims that he mandated the representatives of the ministry in the AGM to analyze both the 27,000 lei proposal made by the Ministry of Transport, as the majority shareholder, and the 11,000 lei proposal of Fondul Proprietatea.
“We left both proposals on the agenda. The mandate was to analyze both proposals and decide,” the minister said.
He also stated, in order to justify the level of the approved allowance, that “we have to take into account the fact that it is a company that ended 2024 with a profit of 120 million euros”.
Fondul Proprietatea criticizes the decision of the Ministry of Transport
We remind you that during the period when the Bolojan Government is proposing reforms in the state administration, the Ministry of Transport approved an allowance of 46,560 lei gross/month (about 27,200 lei net) for each member of the Board of Directors of the Bucharest National Airport Company (CNAB). As a rule, a board of directors meets once a month.
Fondul Proprietatea, a minority shareholder in the company, proposed an allowance of 19,885 lei gross (about 11,600 lei net), but the request was rejected by the Ministry of Transport, in the General Meeting of Shareholders on December 2.
At this moment, the members of the Board of Directors of Bucharest Airports are: Eduard Bachide, Georgeta Bumbac, Cosmin Florin Mihălțean, Ileana Mirela Bîrchi, Constantin Gabriel Bunduc and Cătălin Diaconu. Their terms expire in July 2028.
Fondul Proprietatea made several proposals regarding corporate governance during the AGM, which were rejected. In the Fund's opinion, their rejection will make it difficult to list the company on the stock exchange.
The majority shareholder (80%) is the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Transport. Fondul Proprietatea owns 20% of the shares.
