Petromidia misses final rescheduling

Petromidia has failed to comply with the rescheduling deadlines for its debts to the state budget for the second time and therefore lost this right, Maria Manolescu, state secretary with the Public Finance Ministry yesterday said. “The due process for any company losing the rescheduling right is forced execution,” Manolescu said, without specifying whether the step was to be taken or not. She added Petromidia might apply for a new rescheduling only after 12 months, according to Ordinance 40/2002 on collection of budgetary arrears. “I don’t know if the ordinance will stand for one more year, because it was created to recover the long overdue debts. Petromidia had a chance but missed it,” Manolescu said.
“Petromidia will no apply for a new rescheduling of its long overdue debts,” Dinu Patriciu, chairman of Rompetrol Group, which controls Petromidia, told Ziarul Financiar. “The only solution I can see is having its debts swapped for equity to be held by the State,” he added. Patriciu had previously said the State should give him the same fiscal treatment as in the case of other companies, such as Petrom, RAFO Onesti, or Renault (for the Dacia privatisation) or Ispat (when it bought Sidex). The State in that case had cancelled the long overdue debts upon or prior to privatisation or had them swapped for equity. ZF