BUCHAREST (Romania), October 24 (SeeNews) – Romania's transport ministry said on Tuesday it is dismissing the general manager of state-owned railway infrastructure operator CFR, Marius Chiper, due to poor management.
The decision follows an analysis made by the ministry which revealed poor management of the railway network, unjustified and unannounced train delays and bad condition of infrastructure, the ministry said in a press release.
"Officials are at the service of citizens and not the other way around - this is a belief I will not give up on," transport minister Felix Stroe said.
Chiper was CFR's interim director since 2015.
In August, CFR signed a 2.63 billion lei ($680 million/580 million euro) contract with a consortium comprising Astaldi and Convensa for the reconstruction of a section of the country's railway network.
The project aims to upgrade railway infrastructure and superstructure to allow for a maximum travel speed of 160 km/h of passenger trains and 120 km/ h for freight trains.
CFR posted a net profit of 1.2 million lei in 2016, on a turnover of 1.2 billion lei. The company returned to profit in 2015 following five years of losses.
(1 euro = 4.5978 Romanian lei)