New SNP Petrom head tries to dodge rubber cheques scandal

During his first public appearance as head of SNP (National Oil Company) Petrom, Gheorghe Constantinescu tried to avoid dealing with the hottest topic on the energy market at the moment: the scandal of the rubber cheques at the Peco Arad branch. Pressured by journalists, he only said the investigation was in progress, after ten minutes during which he presented a summary of his background, intended to introduce “the man” behind the manager.
The affair of the rubber cheques issued by Petrom’s Arad branch and contracted by the firm held by Gheorghe Medintu (now under arrest) has stirred unrest on the Stock Exchange and in the business circles. The cheques had been issued by PECO and used to get 250bn ROL ($7.5 million) in credits taken by Medintu, a famous local businessman and former PSD (Social Democrat Party) Arad deputy chairman. In exchange for the cheques, Medintu was supposed to supply diesel oil to Petrom, which he did not do. Six banks are now having a hard time trying to figure out where to get their money back from.
Under the circumstances, the newly appointed SNP Petrom manger Gheorghe Constantinescu avoided answering questions during his first news conference. The stated purpose of the news conference yesterday was to introduce “the man” behind the Petrom head.
“You have Constantinescu the man before you. The purpose of this conference is to get to know each other, that is me introducing myself to you and we getting to know each other better,” said the former manager of Petrobrazi Ploiesti subsidiary, who replaced Ion Popa as head of Societatea Nationala a Petrolului (National Oil Company – SNP) Petrom this month.
“I was not a member of any political party, just of PCR (Romanian Communist Party). I’ve been a member of a neighbourhood PSD Ploiesti organisation for six or seven months now,” Constantinescu added.
As for the “Arad” case, the SNP head said: “At the moment, we have a complex commission in Arad investigating this case. The Police and the Prosecutor’s Office will be notified as soon as possible. This is about a group of people in the Arad Petrom branch that broke the financial discipline. Petrom is more than the Arad branch. Those found guilty during investigations will probably be turned over to justice and we will sit down and talk with the banks to find a solution together,” Constantinescu added.
It took a press release circulated after the conference to show that Petrom officials seem to have finally realised how serious this situation is.
“As regards the situation at Arad Commercial Agency, Petrom feels it will not significantly impact on the company’s business. Petrom would like to reassure the banking system, with which it has long-lasting relations, that it will honour the legal obligations in line with its position. The investigation in the Arad case is in progress; the case will be turned over to justice. Petrom has 2.3bn euros in turnover, and this case accounts for only 0.3% of it,” a corporate press release circulated after the news conference explains.