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Ciprian Ciucu is delaying the STB fare increase until the company undergoes significant restructuring

Cristiana Dida

13 November 2026, 12:51

Current Affairs

Ciprian Ciucu / foto: shutterstock.com

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Bucharest General Mayor Ciprian Ciucu said on Friday that he would not support an increase in fares for public transport provided by the Bucharest Transport Company (STB) before the company begins a significant restructuring.

The statement was made at a press conference held at the municipality’s headquarters, after Remus Borza, a representative of the consortium of judicial administrators, said that ticket prices could be increased amid rising energy costs. He argued that a five-lei fare would be “more than reasonable” and cited the situation in Cluj-Napoca, where a travel ticket costs seven lei.

Ciucu said, however, that any potential price increase must be conditional on concrete measures to improve STB’s efficiency. The general mayor did not announce a timetable for the restructuring and did not specify what changes should be implemented within the company.

The discussion comes amid financial pressure caused by rising energy costs and the need to reform the capital’s public transport operator. The General Meeting of Shareholders is set to analyze the measures needed to address STB’s financial and operational situation.

Context: STB is insolvent and has begun restructuring, following discussions about raising ticket prices

Before the general mayor's statement, the Bucharest Transport Company proposed increasing the price of a journey from 3 to 5 lei and eliminating free travel for pensioners with pensions above 3,000 lei, measures intended to reduce losses. The proposals were analyzed in light of the serious financial situation: the company, which was insolvent, had debts of over 3 billion lei, while in the first ten months of the year it reported losses of 765 million lei.

At the same time, STB entered a reorganization process: 796 redundancy notices were issued and the elimination of 1,715 positions was announced, 919 of which were vacant, affecting categories such as bus/trolleybus drivers and tram drivers. This process was also accompanied by legal episodes: the Bucharest Tribunal had previously rejected STB's request to enter insolvency because of the way the list of creditors had been prepared, while the general mayor later announced that a new application had been filed with supporting documents.