Strict ultimatum to the directors of SOEs

According to a circular by the general secretary of the Finance ministry George Mergos, the managements of SOEs will have to present to the ministry by September 10 details of the implementation of their budgets, as well as the assessment of 2011 for wages, hiring and retiring.

The ministry also wants the monthly employment figures, a quarterly activities report, information on any deviations from the annual budget and a list of all real estate property.

By the end of September, administrations should send their business plans for evaluation by the Finance ministry.

As part of cutting costs, SOEs are required to drastically reduce their operating and production costs, restructure the organizational shape by merging and co-locating offices, departments and directorates in order to fully utilize the existing staff and reduce their operating costs.

Also, managements are asked to negotiate the reduction of the rent they pay for the facilities of their enterprise, as well as the reduction of expenditure on supplies of raw materials, other fees and expenses of third parties, as well as for repairs and maintenance work.

"Please note that failure to send the information requested from you by the ministry in a timely manner may result in a penalty. Among other things, revenues from the state budget or the public investment program might get tied up and the chairman, CEO and board members may be dismissed from office," the circular reads.