The Clujana Company has pulled the plug on its operation after 111 years on the market. The business started out as a factory in Cluj in 1911 and eventually grew to become one of the national symbols companies of Romania. Clujana was the largest leather and shoe manufacturing factory in the country.
Given that the business has previously been just one step away from collapse, the chances don’t look good for it. The Cluj County Council is the owner of the plant, and it also holds 93,4412% of Clujana’s shares.
The company went bankrupt, but for the previous 30 years, the county institution has been unable to identify the best options for its rehabilitation. It has a detrimental affect. The current market in Romania provides the best conditions for international businesses and investors, but it is not the same environment for domestic businesses. One such instance is the Clujana plant, a historically significant factory with 100% Romanian capital that is on the verge of failure.
ValahiaNews offers us some insight on the Cluj County Council public statements.
“We are not the factory owners. During that privatization, I received some shares of Clujana from Fondul Proprietatea in custody. We are not majority shareholders, we are practically not owners, the State as a whole is a shareholder. Basically, the State through the Ministry of public Finance is a shareholder, we only have the right own the buildings, the factory itself remained a private one, it functioned according to the rules of the market economy”.
Alin Tise, President of Cluj County Council
Any assertions that it had to do with individual real estate interests in the structure and surrounding land of the Clujana plant were rejected by him. In addition, he opposed the factory’s privatization, arguing that only the name of the business could be purchased because the Cluj County Council owned the land, the building, and all other tangible assets.
The situation is gloomy and the reasons for the company’s inactivity have not yet been fully revealed, but there is still hope for the company’s revival if the necessary improvements, investments, and downsizing are made in accordance with the current financial challenges, debt, and the industry’s activity situation.
