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Controversial Sovereign Development and Investment Fund voted by the Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies, acting as decision-making forum, adopted on Wednesday by a vote of 174 to 98 and three abstentions the bill on the creation of the Sovereign Development and Investment Fund (FSDI), after the Economic Policy Committee made several amendments to the piece of legislation, that include the increase of the contribution in cash to 9 billion lei and the extension by 10 of the list of companies the fund will be holding shares in.
Liberal deputy Raluca Turcan requested that the bill be sent back to the committee on grounds that it is unconstitutional, but the plenum rejected the proposal. Turcan announced that the National liberal Party will challenge the law at the Constitutional Court of Romania.
The representative of the Save Romania Union Claudiu Nasui said that his party, the People's Movement Party and independent deputies will also challenge the bill at the CCR.
FSDI's equity was increased, with the cash contribution set at 9 billion lei, as to 1.85 billion lei in the version adopted by the Senate. Payments for the contribution in cash to FSDI's initial equity will be as follows: 200,000,000 lei in cash upon establishment, with the difference payable within five years.
The initial list of 23 companies whose stakes will make the contribution in kind to FSDI's equity was completed with another ten companies: the Oltenia Energy Complex SA, the National Railway Company CFR SA, the National Radio Broadcaster SA, the National Romanian Post Company SA, the Traian Vuia International Airport of Timisoara SA, the Midia SA Thermal Power Plant, CFR SA Telecommunications, the Work Capacity Rehab Balneal Treatment Company TBRCM SA, the National Navigable Canals Administration Corporation SA, the National Administration of Danube River Ports SA.
Two articles have been removed from the version adopted by the Senate, specifically: the medium and long-term performance indicators shall be drafted by the Ministry of Public Finance as representative of the state as sole FSDI shareholder, in consultation with an advisory committee and are approved by the Government, along with the investment strategy. The advisory committee was supposed to include three representatives of the Government, and one representative of each the National Bank of Romania, the Financial Supervisory Authority, the academic milieu, the financial-banking industry, Parliament and civil society.
According to another amendment, the activity and the accomplishment of FSDI goals are assessed annually by the Ministry of Public Finance and presented to the Government.