Share of state in real sector of economy is too high, minister

Twenty years after switching over to market economy, the share of the state in the real sector of the economy should be lower than the current level of 24%, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. According to Valeriu Lazar, a number of shortcomings are witnessed in the process of administering the public property. “Seventy state-run companies have not been included in the State Property Register and their activity is monitored by none of the ministries. The entrepreneurial culture is low. The performance of the managers of these companies named to posts by the state is poor,” said the Deputy Prime Minister, stressing efficiency and transparency is needed in the public propriety administration process. “We gave the ministries and other authorities a period of three months for analyzing how the property of the companies under their subordination is managed and for submitting proposals. If it is decided that these assets must remain state property, the management process must be improved. If we transfer them to the private sector, we must choose the best privatization method for them,” said Valeriu Lazar. He considers that a public-private partnership method should be worked out for the companies of major social importance that cannot be privatized, like the thermoelectric plants. Currently, the wear degree at the thermoelectric plants is 80% and no modernization is possible without private investments. Valeriu Lazar said it is very important to reach a decision as to what to do with the public property during three months. The value of net assets in the real economy was 107 billion lei at the end of 2010. About 24% of the assets were owned by the state.