BCR privatisation contract could be signed by yearend

The privatisation contract for BCR could be signed by the end of the year, after the EBRD and IFC conclude their internal approval procedures.

The contract is to be made public right after the signing. Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu presented the Government with a memorandum, during the meeting on Tuesday, on the steps completed thus far in the privatisation of BCR, without revealing the agenda for future talks with the two bidders selected for the final stage.

The Finance Minister explained the absence of such a schedule by saying that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the IFC, which are BCR shareholders, had not yet completed their internal “bureaucratic” approval procedures. “As far as we are concerned, it is almost over. We have now reached the phase when the contract is being translated into Romanian, and are to include the position and approvals of the two international financial institutions. At that moment we will forward the final version of the privatisation contract to the two bidders, and request them to submit their final bids,” Vladescu said.

He added he was optimistic about signing the BCR privatisation contract by the end of the year, if the EBRD and IFC send their final documents detailing their position on the sale of the bank this week or early next week.

Delegate Minister Bogdan Olteanu, a member of the privatisation committee specified the document for the sale of the bank would be revealed to the public immediately after the signing. The only information that is supposed to be kept confidential is the price offered by the bidder that is not selected as the future owner of BCR. “No one will ever know the price offered by the losing bidder. This was a request made by both participants. The price of the losing party will remain sealed and unknown forever,” Vladescu said.