Romanian Automobile Craiova Sale To Ford Might Be Complete By Early April – Official

"We hope to have the contract effective by the time of the NATO Summit in Bucharest at the latest, that is the beginning of April,” Atanasiu said.

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition has formulated a point of view, which it will sent to all European Commissioners by Feb 21 and a decision regarding the sale contract would be made on Feb 27, Atanasiu said.

The government received signals that the Commission’s decision regarding the sale of Automobile would be announced within a reasonable term, that things "are moving in the right direction,” and the transaction is to be completed in about two months, Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said Thursday evening.

The Romanian Senate in plenary session Wednesday approved the draft law regarding the sale of Automobile Craiova to Ford, at the request of privatization committee head Sebastian Vladescu.

The draft law still needs approval of the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision factor.

The European Commission launched a probe into the plant sale to Ford to see whether the Romanian government attached specific conditions to the privatization, resulting in a lower sale price and leaving Ford the only bidder in the sale. If this is the case, the privatization could involve elements of illegal state aid, the commission said.

In September last year, Ford agreed to pay EUR57 million for a 72.4% stake in the state-run Automobile Craiova and promised to invest another EUR675 million to upgrade the plant.