The Minister of Transport announces collective layoffs at CFR Marfă / The state must pay 11 million euros for salaries and compensation

Approximately 1,500 CFR Marfă employees are facing collective redundancies, Transport Minister Ștefan-Ovidiu Popa announced on Monday, November 9, 2026. The Romanian state must allocate around 11 million euros to pay outstanding salaries from the past four months and compensation for the laid-off employees.

CFR Marfă has not had an operating license since spring, but the employees’ employment contracts have remained active. The minister said that more than 300 employees have contracts with the operator Carpatica, approximately 900 are on technical unemployment, and another 200 are nearing retirement age.

The laid-off employees are expected to receive five severance payments, calculated at the level of five gross average wages in the sector. The government is seeking a solution for paying the amounts, with the minister saying that he discussed the matter with the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, and the Ministry of Labor.

Ștefan-Ovidiu Popa criticized the former leadership of the Ministry of Transport for not continuing the procedure to place CFR Marfă into bankruptcy, as requested by the European Commission. He warned that Romania risks the initiation of infringement proceedings.