Romanian Govt to Begin Talks With Ford On Loan Guarantees
Romanian prime minister Emil Boc that a team from the Ministry of Finance nalyze this state aid.
Ford Europe general manager John Fleming raised the topic in the talks held Friday with prime minister Emil Boc, and Boc decided to form a team, at the Ministry of Finance, which would analyze the conditions in which the loan could be guaranteed by the state, government sources told MEDIAFAX.
The quoted sources said a decision will be reached when the government consults the European Commission.
Fleming said Ford will not give up on the investment in Automobile Craiova and will transfer to Romania production lines from other countries.
However, he took interest in the state of works on the Lugoj-Caransebes-Orsova-Drobeta Turnu Severin-Craiova-Calafat traffic lane and the Southern Highway Bucharest-Alexandria-Craiova (170 km), saying Ford needs an adequate infrastructure to export its products.
In September 2007, Ford agreed to pay EUR57 million for a 72.4% stake in Automobile Craiova and pledged to invest an additional EUR675 million to upgrade the plant.