Siderurgica's debt swapped for equity

The Banking Assets Resolution Authority (AVAB) will swap the five million-dollar receivable it holds on Siderurgica for shares accounting for 17.6% in this company, AVAB chairman Ionel Blanculescu said. The Authority official thinks the solution to have the company in Hunedoara privatised is to divide it into profit centres. “It has to undergo restructuring in line with this scheme; there may be layoffs, too,” Blanculescu added. The debt for equity swap performed by AVAB will diminish the Privatisation Authority’s stake in Siderurgica to 63.2%. The rest of the capital is held by SIF Banat-Crisana (15.77%) and by small shareholders derived from the mass privatisation programme (3.78%). The shares taken over by AVAB will still be administrated by the Privatisation Authority, which will try to sell them along with its stake. Privatisation minister Ovidiu Musetescu has recently said Siderurgica’s total debts amount to $260 million, as the company posts $500,000 a day in losses. ZF