Present in the administration councils of ARR, CNADNR and RAR
Six months ago, the minister of Transports invited representatives of the transporters to join the administration councils of the Romanian Road Authority (ARR), the National Company of National Road Administration of Romania (CNADNR) and the Romanian Auto Registry (RAR). A measure without precedent, aiming to increase the hopes regarding the transparency in the cooperation with the authorities. Nevertheless...
Immediately after the people were appointed, discussions started about the way it was done, the way of choosing the people and about the role they will have within the councils. Openness towards a real dialogue and transparent decisions, or an apple of discord thrown in the "yard" of the transport companies?
Half a year after the appointments, we obtained, in exclusivity, the point of view of the three people present in the councils: Ion Lixandru - invited to join the administration council of CNADNR, Dragos Anastasiu - invited to join the administration council of RAR and Sabin Ogreanu - invited to join the administration council of ARR.
"What we are now representing is a consequence of the efforts made in 2008, when we protested and the National Road Council was appointed. Then we also made a list with nominates on which Dragos Anastasiu and Ion Lixandru were present. We are supporting now the same goals as we did back then", underlined Ion Lixandru, invited in the administration council of CNADNR.
Missed opportunity?
The presence of the representatives of the transporters represent, without any doubt, a great opportunity. It isn't only about the access to information which was unreachable so far, but also about the chance to influence the changes from within. Practically, through the presence in the councils, the dialogue between the transporters and the Ministry of Transports and Infrastructure could become fellow-like and not antagonistic, as it usually is. Could this lead to an improvement of the relationship with MTI?
There's no warranty, but maybe it would be worth it to try.
"The moment when the nominations came from Mrs the Minister, the first action we wanted to take was to call the guild (the presidents of the professional associations) to a meeting. Except UNTRR, no one honoured this invitation. Discussions started regarding the people who were invited to join the councils, instead of using what we got. Practically, the representatives of the associations didn't want or couldn't present us some problems that we could try to solve within the councils of RAR, ARR and CNADNR. The dialogue within the councils is a constructive one and we aren't all the time adversaries. In addition, we have a minister who wants to do a good job, to change the things. The meeting we proposed to the representatives of the associations had the purpose to present the activity of the people appointed in the councils and, particularly, to underline the «limitations of the status of invited person» to these meetings. More than that, the presidents of the associations could ask us to help solve some problems, establishing eventually also a term of achieving it. We should forget our pride and, before criticizing, we could try to do constructive things. The things should be changed from inside", said Dragos Anastasiu, invited in the administration council of RAR.
We have to take into consideration also the fact that the current Government and, implicitly, the current minister of Transports have a time limited mandate and there aren't any warranties regarding the future presence of representatives of the transporters in the councils.
"It's sad that we've already lost a lot of time and we couldn't create strategies to suggest them to the councils, to lead to an improvement of the activity. The members of the council have positive reactions, especially when the suggestions are well supported by arguments. Unfortunately the time is also limited. Practically, we still have maximum 15 meetings until the end of this mandate. The meetings take place once a month, and during the summertime they were even rarer", declared Sabin Ogreanu, invited in the council of ARR.
Possible influences
Even though the presence in the councils didn't also mean power of decision, the good dialogue with the members and, even more, the direct dialogue with the minister are creating the opportunity for the transporters to influence the way things are.
"This summer, a lot of changes are to be expected. We also made some suggestions and we have promises that they will be taken into consideration. People are sceptic because, generally speaking, there is the supposition that the people who have a good dialogue with a minister are trying to obtain personal advantages. Along the years, I showed that this «rule» doesn't apply to me. I am reminding you the support for the transfer of the authorizations from MT to IGTCI, the protest against the tax in Giurgiu or the demonstration in 2008. Also from now on, the results will confirm the altruistic attitude", underlined Ion Lixandru.
The unification of the databases and the liberalization of the regular national passenger transport are some aspects that could be included in the new transports' law.
"The unification of the databases of the three institutions represents an older goal. Also, within the meetings with Mrs Minister, we discussed the necessity of having more fix portals on the road and at the borders, to collect information on the basis of the license plate, about the rovignette, about the periodical technical inspection, licenses, transport authorizations for the trucks in transit, stolen vehicles etc. - all of those leading to an increase of the competitiveness. Also, taking into consideration the position of the railway stations, we suggested the creation of a pilot - program for a passenger transport terminal close to the North Railway Station, with connection with Basarab Railway Station", explained Ion Lixandru.
Regarding the liberalization of the passenger transport...
"There are no alternatives to the liberalization. When and how we will do it - these are aspects that can be discussed, but the sooner, the better for the transporters and for the passengers. The market must consolidate, because currently it's toxic and the evasion reached very high peaks. The liberalization will lead to the creation of strategies, to a decrease of the price of the service and increase of the quality", declared Dragos Anastasiu.
"Why is the merchandise transport liberalized and the passenger transport is NOT? Not for protecting the ones who aren't competitive?", added Ion Lixandru.
It's hard to anticipate if also the next ministers of Transports will invite the representatives of the transporters to join the councils of ARR, CNADNR and RAR and this is why, no matter of the current contradictions within the guild, great efforts should be made so that the presence of the transporters in the councils would be made official.
"It's important that we had access in a closed area and our presence within the councils brought a certain change of attitude. My presence within the administration council made CNADNR to be more open, to attend to the conferences with the transporters and even to organize a meeting with the representatives of the transport operators. The officialising on indefinite term of the presence in the administration councils of the three institutions of the representatives of the transporters depends greatly on our activity and on our verticality", underlined Ion Lixandru.
Regarding the improvement of the dialogue with the leaders of the associations, the representatives of the transporters in the councils have only one answer - the creation of a unique federation.
Invitation to dialogue
With the mediation of Ziua Cargo, the representatives of the transporters in the administration councils of ARR, RAR and CNADNR are waiting for suggestions from the transporters regarding problems that could be solved within the three institutions. We are waiting for the suggestions on the e-mail address redactie@ziuacargo.ro
Ion Lixandru, invited to join the administration council of CNADNR:
"We presented to the minister a series of suggestions from the transport companies and probably the suggestions will be accepted. Practically, we became intermediaries between the ministry and the associations. We used the fact that we are accepted and respected by the MTI. Unfortunately, the people aren't yet educated to use the people who are in key positions. There's always a suspicion."
Dragos Anastasiu, invited within the administration council of RAR:
"Our openness towards the transporters is total and we are waiting for suggestions from them. It seems to be a good moment for a dialogue. I can't offer warranties that some concrete results will follow, but I have the feeling that there's more openness. In addition, if a precedent is created, it would be difficult, no matter who will be minister, to take back the decision, especially when our presence in the councils is appreciated."
Sabin Ogreanu, invited within the managing council of ARR:
"At conceptual level, the patronal associations in Romania don't want to make compromises any longer. They are adopting permanently the message that everything is a disaster and that nothing good is accomplished. These inflexible opinions are for the great part justified. But without a constructive dialogue, we will find ourselves isolated, sooner or later."
Radu BORCESCU
radu.borcescu@ziuacargo.ro
Publicat in revista Ziua Cargo din August 2011
