Reaction from the Government to the PSD-AUR motion: Oana Gheorghiu says why the Government recommended the accelerated sale of some shares in Hidroelectrica, Romgaz or Tranzgaz. “PSD knew”

Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu declared on Tuesday that the accelerated sale of some minority stakes does not bypass the Stock Exchange, but is done through the Stock Exchange and was put on the list as a backup solution in case we fail to restructure three companies, another milestone where Romania risks the loss of 70 million euros. “PSD knew about all these discussions”, she said, in reaction to the PSD-AUR motion accusing the Bolojan Government of preparing “a cannon to public patrimony” by listing strategic assets to state companies.

“It is another proof of the fact that this motion is a lie, because you all had access to the documents and I hope you presented them publicly on your television stations as they were presented and as they were written, an exploratory list, without political commitment, put on the discussion table transparently. If we wanted to sell something, to hide something, I don't think we would have done this publicly”, said Oana Gheorghiu.

“The accelerated sale does not bypass the Stock Exchange”

She then responded to the accusations from the PSD-AUR motion of censure, in which it is said that the Bolojan Government “is preparing an operation that has nothing in common with the public interest, an opaque action, to the advantage of narrow circles, orchestrated precisely by those who trumpet transparency: packages from strategic state companies are taken out of the transparent circuit of the market and directed, bypassing the Stock Exchange, through the accelerated placement mechanism, to selected investors, under discretionary conditions, at prices lower than the real ones”.

“The accelerated sale does not bypass the Stock Exchange, it is done through the Stock Exchange and was put on the list as an option in case we do not manage to restructure three companies so that we reach our milestone. We did a professional analysis together with AMEPIP and with all the stakeholders in the capital market, so that we have more options and bring the money home. The fact that for a political area this does not matter and the Romanians' money does not matter and they put this motion, if they put it, I haven't seen it, but if it sounds like that, it is based on a lie, because the documents are public. And people who want to know the truth can find it out very easily, because it was clearly an exploratory list, specified once again, in a transparent manner,” said Oana Gheorghiu, at a press conference organized by the Agency for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Enterprises (AMEPIP).

The government recommended an accelerated sale of Hidroelectrica, Romgaz and Transgaz

Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu basically referred to information note publicly presented on April 16 that contained “an exploratory list” of several companies that may qualify for listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), with minority stakes.

The document recommends the use of the ABB (Accelerated Bookbuilding or Rapid Placement) method, the so-called accelerated sale mechanism of minority stakes in companies listed on the stock exchange, respectively:

• Hidroelectrica, with a 5-7% stake in the shares
• Romgaz, with a 5-7% stake
• Transgaz – maximum 5%. The condition is correlation with the Neptun Deep project

What is accelerated selling on the stock exchange

“Accelerated sale versus a listing has advantages and disadvantages. An accelerated listing means that I choose the time when I sell a block of shares, and that time is when the price is high and the stock market is high and with a discount that I can calculate and consider to be advantageous, versus a pre-listing, which means pre-listing costs, costs of feasibility studies, costs of attracting investors, which can sometimes be quite high. And there is also a risk – I don't know what happens on the date I announced the listing. Maybe the market is going down”, said Oana Gheorghiu on Tuesday.

The ABB procedure is a quick method of selling a significant block of shares, usually carried out in a few hours or a maximum of 1-2 days. It is a procedure intended for institutional investors (funds, banks), not the general public, to limit market risk. Because a significant volume is sold in an extremely short time, the transaction is almost always done at a discount to the market closing price, if we are talking about listed companies. Economic analyst Adrian Negrescu wrote here about the advantages and disadvantages of ABB.

Former PSD Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacșu knew since March

“On March 12, I emailed Deputy Prime Minister Neacșu and the other Deputy Prime Ministers this “exploratory list” in which I asked them to return after discussions with the party with feedback, if some companies should be removed or if others should be added. Ministers and secretaries of state from all parties existed and participated in the discussions within the interministerial committee”, said Oana Gheorghiu.

Restructuring of three state-owned companies or accelerated sale of shares

Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu revealed on Tuesday that the accelerated sale of shares was proposed by the Government as an option in case we fail to restructure three state-owned companies, which we undertook through milestone 443 of the PNRR.

Milestone 443 of the PNRR, Component 14 – Good Governance, sets the deadline of August 31, 2026 for the restructuring or listing of at least three state companies with demonstrable irreversible progress towards the European Commission. The milestone has an allocation of 70 million euros.

Romania has proposed to the European Commission the restructuring of three companies: two from transport (Tipografica CFR and Telecomunicații CFR) and one from energy (Electrocentrale Grup).

“We have chosen the companies for which the schedule allows us to meet the milestone. The two companies that I told you about in transport means a merger, basically, they are incorporated into larger companies, also from transport, so that we limit costs, we no longer have more management teams, accounting and all that. Electrocentrale Group is a small company, its role is not essential, it is not strategic. At the moment, the company's income is from building rentals”, said Oana Gheorghiu on April 16 at the Government.

“PSD knew about all these discussions”

The Deputy Prime Minister returned to the conference on Tuesday from the Government in relation to the 3 companies proposed for restructuring, stating that it is not certain whether the European Executive will accept that the restructuring of these companies fulfills milestone 443.

“We have done an analysis of the 22 companies in the pilot project, of which 3 qualify to be restructured and it is an ongoing process. We have sent them to the Commission to see if, from the perspective of the Commission, they can be considered as a completed milestone. In November 2025, nothing had been done on milestone 443. We started this pilot project, we advanced as much as we could and we hope that on August 31 three companies will be restructured. But what we want is let's make sure that the Commission also considers these companies to have met milestone 443,” said Oana Gheorghiu on Tuesday.

She added that the accelerated sale of minority stakes was proposed as a back-up solution.

“As a precautionary measure, let's be sure that if we hear from the Commission, and probably in the next 2-3 weeks, the Commission will give us feedback on our restructuring list and if the Commission says that we do not consider that by restructuring or by absorbing two companies within the CFR you have met the milestone, we have a backup solution. We put it as a backup solution on the Government's table.” said Oana Gheorghiu on Tuesday.

And when do we get an answer?

“Probably in the next two to three weeks. Last week, after presenting the report that aroused so much emotion in the public space, I made cover notes with the General Secretariat and with AMEPIP and sent the Interministerial Committee report with the 22 companies and everything else we worked on to the European Commission.

Did PSD know about this backup solution for milestone 443?

“PSD knew about all these discussions. They were sent to the deputy prime ministers, including Mr. Neacșu, with exactly this request to return to the feedback. This was in March before we reached the public with them. Everyone knows what we were working on and they participated in the Interministerial Committee. Everyone in the Government attracted for this milestone. The fact that it is used politically and to destroy, it is actually to destroy the country, is all the more sad. Because all this work came as let's hit the milestones and bring the money home,” Oana Gheorghiu said on Tuesday.