Bucharest mayor seeks insolvency protection for public transport operator STB

21 July 2026 Bucharest mayor Ciprian Ciucu has called for the insolvency of the capital's public transport operator STB, arguing that court-supervised restructuring is the only way to avoid bankruptcy and ensure the payment of employees' salaries, according to Economica.ro. Speaking at a press conference, Ciucu said STB's financial situation had become unsustainable and warned that, without entering insolvency proceedings, the company would eventually face bankruptcy. "Without insolvency, at some point, STB will effectively go directly into bankruptcy," Ciucu said. The mayor identified three main causes of the company's financial difficulties. The first is the historic practice of non-payment of tax and social security contributions to the state budget, with the outstanding debt reaching R