Romanian plant Tractorul Brasov, which was bound for closure following a shareholders’ meeting last week, may be worth as high as 60 million euro only in real estate purposes. While experts in the Brasov area in Central Romania claim the properties held by the company cannot exceed 50 euro per square meter, the price might be considerably higher if it is included in an urbanism plan.

Unless such a plan exist, the price per square meter cannot exceed 50 euro, says Zoltan Haller, head of the Zoltim real estate agency in Brasov. But Tractorul trade union leader Gheorghe Apostu says the value of land unoccupied by buildings may reach as much as 100 euro/sm as the company is said to be included as an industrial area in an urbanism plan.

The Brasov-based company covers 124 hectares and, according to a 2005 evaluation, the total value of the plant is set at 40 million euro. The value of company assets could not cover its debt, says Apostu.

But a series of investors have already expressed interest in buying the properties. Among them - Indian company Mahindra&Mahindra, who has been eyeing Tractorul for years, but also Romanian business people such as the Paunescu family, real estate mogul-politician Gigi Becali and the Carpatica Bank.

Tractorul shareholders decided last week to disband the plant and lay off all personnel in a two-phase process. Investment society SIF Transilvania and company employees number among the shareholders with 17% and 2.7% respectively, while the rest is controlled by the Authority for State Assets Recovery.