Former Property Owners Robbed Once Again

Former property owners having being stripped by their properties by the communist regime, and getting shares in the Ownership Fund, deemed to restore part of their rights, might be stripped yet again of their wealth, this time by the current government.

The management of the Ownership Fund plans to put forth a proposal for bringing down the nominal value of one share with 24%, to bring it to 0.76 RON per share, from 1 RON per share previously.

This means that people who already got shares from the Ownership Fund will have the nominal value of their wealth reduced with 24%. It also means that people who stand to get the shares in the future, will receive more shares to the same amount of damage, by the same ratio of 24%.

For instance, a person having received for 600,000 shares for 600,000 RON in damages, will own now 600,000 shares worth 456,000 RON.

Whereas the same person, receiving his or her shares now, will get for 600,000 RON in damages a total of 789,473 shares.

And this will impact the revenues these two people will make in the future, as dividends are disbursed according to the number of shares one holds.

The president of the Ownership Fund Dana Lulache did not offer a satisfactory explanation for the difference in income between people with the same initial investment this planned change in bring about.

While a good number of minority stock holders voiced their disagreement with the planned move.

In a March 2008 ruling, the European Court of Human Rights decided the Ownership Fund "was not working in a manner enabling it to effectively provide for disbursement of material damages."