Changes at the top of Rompetrol Petrochemicals

Florin Andrei, the current general manager of Rompetrol Petrochemicals, has been appointed to the company”s Board of Directors, to work with Felicia Andrei and Niculi Dumitru.

Florin Andrei is also taking over the position of chairman of the company”s board of directors.

Over recent weeks, the two owners of the Rompetrol group, Dinu Patriciu and the American Phil Stephenson, have decided to withdraw from the executive management of Rompetrol companies in Romania.

Patriciu owns 80% in Rompetrol Group NV Netherlands (the parent company, directly and indirectly controlling Rompetrol companies in Romania), while Stephenson holds the rest of stock. At the same time, Patriciu is also Rompetrol Group NV CEO, with Stephenson as his deputy.

Rompetrol Petrochemicals is the petrochemical unit of the Rompetrol oil group.

Rompetrol Petrochemicals in 2004 posted turnover worth 102 million dollars (about 82 million euros), 65% higher year-on-year. The company”s EBITDA stood at 4.7 million dollars (about 3.8 million euros), up 160% from the previous year, according to the latest figures available.

Forecasts for last year pointed to a 50% increase in turnover and net income compared with 2004, amid the increase in production of polypropylene and 40% higher sales of solid products.

Polypropylene is a raw material for the plastics industry, of which tubes or construction materials are made, which results in a higher density construction material, while polyethylene is used in the production of bags and other packaging products.

In line with its own estimations, the company holds 70% of the domestic polypropylene market, a 2.7% share of the polyethylene market and 19% of the PET market.

Companies operating in the petrochemical industry have been coping with the higher-than-expected increase in oil prices globally, which has lifted the price of raw materials used.

The increase in the final price of products based on oil derivatives could not be entirely absorbed by the market, and most players registered lower profitability margins.

Nevertheless, the Romanian plastics industry benefited from the expansion of the construction materials market, with company portfolios even being directed towards this area of the market. roxana.petrescu@zf.ro