The debt ” will be to party gradually resumed, as these reforms are, said Emmanuel Macron, on TF1, on Thursday 12 April. From the moment [the SNCF] will become a company (…) with public capital, it may not be 50 billion euros of debt. Therefore, the State will, from the beginning, back to a part “.
The beginning of the opening did not what to stop the movement of railwaymen, who would rather be in this slight concession (as well as in the recovery of some of their claims in the bill) a confirmation that the pressure should be accentuated, while on the fifth day of the strike by the dotted line started on Friday 13 April. “The balance of power has helped to open the door of negotiations,” said Didier Aubert, secretary general of the CFDT-Railroaders.
Losses and write-downs of assets of the SNCF Network
It is known, the debt of the SNCF is huge. It goes beyond the 54 billion euros, with the bulk being served by the SNCF Network. However, this debt – or 46.6 billion euros related to the construction and maintenance of railway tracks – is not sustainable. It has still cost 1.2 billion euros of financial expenses in 2017. And it has increased to 1.7 billion euros in one year. It is, moreover, incompatible with the future transformation of the group railroad corporations, passed by the national Assembly, 10 April. Where the focus of the president on Thursday.
And if that hole was even deeper than feared ? During the discussion on the draft law to reform the railway system, which was completed Thursday, the member of parliament (Union of democrats and independent) of the Marne, Charles de Courson, stressed the need for the State to resume “from $ 36 billion to 43 billion euros of debt” before the SNCF Network does not become a limited company. The chosen pointed to a fact past a little unnoticed, yet in the consolidated financial statements…
