Rompetrol bonds ready for trading

The shareholders of Rompetrol Rafinare have approved registration with the National Securities Commission (CNVM) and trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange of the bonds issued two years ago to settle some budgetary obligations of the company. The 603 million dollar (over 530 million euro) bond issue was launched in 2003 by conversion of debt, penalties and late charges to the state budget. The Government in October 2003 endorsed an emergency ordinance that allowed Rompetrol Rafinare – Complex Petromidia to extinguish its long-standing debt to the budget, interests and penalties included, by issuing bonds with a seven-year maturity. The company will pay some 25 million dollars a year as interest until 2010, when the bonds will be swapped for shares. Rompetrol will have the preference right to buy the shares derived from the conversion. Rompetrol Rafinare paid some 22 million euros (76.9 million RON) to the state at the end of September, which account for the second-year interest for the bonds issued in 2003. ZF