The European Commission concluded, on Monday 24 February, that the rail freight operator CFR Marfa had received at least €570 million incompatible State Aid from Romania through a debt write-off and failure to collect debts from the company. Romania must now recover the illegal aid plus interest from CFR Marfa.
CFR Marfa is the incumbent rail freight transport services provider in Romania.
The Commission found that actions by the State enforcing CFR Marfa's social security debts and outstanding taxes towards the State budget as of June 2013 were market-conform. However, with respect to the other identified measures, it found that the State had acted in its capacity as a public authority rather than as a shareholder of the company. Moreover, even if the State had acted in its capacity as shareholder and therefore the private market economy operator test was applicable, no private operator would have written-off its debt or abstained from actively enforcing the repayment of debts for years without a sufficient monetary compensation. “The public support from Romania gave CFR Marfa an unfair economic advantage over its competitors”, the Commission analysed. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)