Bucharest Tourism Company - the first of 20 municipal entities to have the plug pulled on them

The Bucharest Tourism Company is the first municipal company to have the plug pulled on it, chairperson of the National Liberal Party's Bucharest branch, Violeta Alexandru, announced on Sunday.

According to Alexandru, only the legally established municipal companies will be kept in place - the Bucharest Transport Company, the Metropolitan Buildings Trust, Energetica Servicii and Termoenergetica, which will soon have new teams appointed at their helm with a "clear" mandate to organize the selection of the company managers.

"We consider these were just sinecures for the Social Democratic Party's clientele to round off their incomes. (...) We will move to dissolve the first company founded by PSD's Gabriela Firea - the Bucharest Tourism Company. We will continue with all the other entities up to 20. The four that will remain - the Bucharest Transport Company, the Metropolitan Buildings Trust, Energetica Servicii and Termoenergetica - will soon have new boards with a clear mandate to organize the competitive selection process of the managers who will render these companies efficient. The rest of the companies will be dismantled. It is PNL's belief that there are enough service providers in the Bucharest free market capable of tabling clear offers for competitive prices so that the citizens of Bucharest get quality services," said Violeta Alexandru, who added that the dissolution of the municipal companies, which would last about two years, is carried out together with the USR-PLUS governing partners.

"There are employees who haven't had their wages paid for months. (...) PNL is for streamlining the activity of the four companies that will remain, for a strict evaluation of the possibility of taking over - where this is justified - of the competitive staff of the companies that are in for dismantling. (...) We are determined to close these companies in a time horizon of two years - because each of them has various complications - and keep just the four where we will appoint an efficient management. (... ) The Mayor General and PNL will take care of the employees who have no fault for getting to this point. The fault lies with the PSD cronies who have placed friends and acquaintances in the management of these companies and who enjoyed advantages at their expense," said the chair of PNL Bucharest.

Violeta Alexandru explained that some of the municipal companies are in a complicated situation, with overdue wages or uncompleted ongoing contracts, and that pulling the plug on them before these procedures are finalized would be an abuse.