Romania Avioane Craiova’s Exec To Step Down Oct 22 - Official

Boldisor, however, said his resignation as head of plane maker Avioane Craiova is merely a possibility.

“My resignation is a mere possibility. I have to talk, to consult with the Board of Directors first. It is possible I resign on Wednesday (October 22 – e.n.), but first we have to wait for the Board’s decision,” Boldisor said.

Boldisor contradicted the announcement made by Dolj County Prefect Silviu Dumitru, who said his resignation was imminent.

“The Board of Directors was summoned for Wednesday to clarify the problems. The company’s manager will hand his resignation to the Board on Wednesday,” Dimitru told protesters outside the plant.

More than 600 employees of Avioane Craiova protested Thursday morning against the non-payment of salaries, calling for Boldisor’s resignation.

The protesters demanded their pay for the past two months.

Boldisor said the payments were delayed on lack of contracts.

“Several contracts are pending signatures, and we hope to close a deal next week that will bring us immediate money,” he said.

Avioane Craiova’s privatization, broken off by Romanian privatization authority AVAS late September, is set to be resumed no later than October 20, through the announcement of a new sale offer for the 80.97% stake, AVAS said in a statement.

AVAS required an urgent update of the company’s evaluation, so that a new sale offer could be launched by October 20.

In September, AVAS said it broke off the negotiations with Czech company Aero Vodochody over the privatization of Avioane Craiova, and mentioned that it will restart the selling process in the next period.

The decision was made after the deadline for the Avioane Craiova sale offer expired, without Aero Vodochody accepting contractual clauses sent by the institution, AVAS officials said.

Aero Vodochody announced it was surprised by AVAS decision and said in a press release that it would have liked a deadline extension of the sale offer.

Avioane Craiova was established in 1972 and operates in the aircraft construction sector.

The company’s situation deteriorated quickly in the recent period on lack of orders, which prompted the Romanian authorities to allocate some EUR10 million for upgrade work at two IAR99 aircraft meant for the Ministry of Defense.

Avioane Craiova’s losses widened to 8.62 million lei (EUR1=RON3.7869) in the first half of 2008, ninefold higher from the same period a year ago.

The company posted first-half revenues of RON6.9 million, down from RON13.41 million in June 2007.

 

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