Patriciu says forced execution no good for State

Businessman Dinu Patriciu says the forced execution of the Petromidia refinery would not be to the best interest of the State. He says the best solution for the State, which holds more than $400 million in receivables on the refinery, would be to take over part of Petromidia’s capital. He specified the receivables accounted for some 35% of the refinery shares. “Closing this refinery as a result of forced execution is not doing anybody any good. An asset that stops working is no longer an asset,” Patriciu on Saturday told a TV show. The Finance Ministry had previously announced Petromidia had failed to meet the deadlines for paying its rescheduled debts, so that it might go through forced execution. Patriciu appraises Petromidia at $700-$900 million, that is half the turnover he estimates for this refinery in 2003, $1.4-$1.5bn. The refinery logged $915 million turnover last year, compared with $435 million in 2001. ZF