Sources inform ''Globes'' that Israel National Roads Company Ltd. has been without directors for four months, paralyzing the company, because Minister of Finance Abraham Hirchson and Minister of Transport Shaul Mofaz have not appointed new directors to the company.
The terms of nine directors expired in December 2006. The company has also been without a chairman since the term of Amiram Levin also expired in December.
The National Roads Company has a budget of NIS 4 billion a year, after the government approved a NIS 19 billion five-year road development program.
Senior government sources said that the situation borders on negligence. One source said, “It’s unacceptable that a government company with such a large budget has been operating without supervision of a board since the beginning of the year. If this were a private company, the Israel Securities Authority would have opened an investigation long ago.”
The sources attributed part of the delay to poor relations between Hirschon and Mofaz, and that the problem is affecting other government companies. Israel Railways has been waiting for a new chairman for over a year.
The Ministry of Finance said, “The law authorizes the minister of finance to appoint directors in government companies, while the minister of transport is responsible for the company’s affairs. The responsible parties intend to work urgently to appoint a company board this week.”
The Ministry of Transport said that the delay was merely technical. “We’ve sent candidates to the appointments committee and we’re waiting for a reply.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on April 15, 2007
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