Ford representatives met yesterday with Orban to discuss the modernization of infrastructure needed for the transportation of cars produced at the Craiova facility. The US-based company is interested in developing road transportation, particularly the construction of the Craiova-Pitesti highway and the further development of pan-European transportation Corridor IV, as well as the modernization of Bechet Port for potential transportation on the Danube River, according to Orban.
Furthermore, Ford is concerned about how Constanta port will develop, through which some 400-450 cars will be transported daily. The Transports Ministry’s plans include the construction of the Craiova-Pitesti highway, as well as the modernization of other routes, such as Craiova-Calafat, which would allow access to the Danube Bechet Port. Romania’s Senate Economic Commission endorsed the draft law on Automobile Craiova’s privatization by Ford yesterday, and this remains to be passed by the Privatization Commission, prior to the full Senate vote.
Ford took over 72.4 percent of Automobile Craiova shares for €57 million. The privatization contract, signed on September 12 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, stipulates that the transaction should be finalized on January 30, 2008. Ford has committed itself to a €675 mln investment, and promises to acquire from the Romanian market 60 percent of parts used to produce its cars in Craiova. The company will produce an annual 300,000 cars, engines and gearboxes as of 2011, and will export some 90 percent of total production (estimated value of two billion euros).
