State keeps golden share in Petrom

Industry Ministry, the majority shareholder of SNP Petrom is planning to keep a golden share after the privatisation of the company. “Our  (Industry Ministry’s i.e.) presence in the company is necessary for us to monitor compliance with investment-related contractual provisions,” Industry minister Dan Ioan Popescu said. He added, “I for one don’t think there are any buyers for Petrom in Romania, at least for now. We’ve had requests from international companies.” Rumour on the market has it that certain Romanian businessmen are interested in Petrom’s privatisation. It is about Ovidiu Tender (Tender Group) or Dinu Patriciu (Rompetrol) who are to participate together with foreign companies.
Popescu specified the talks with the consultant hired for the privatisation of the company, i.e. the consortium comprising Credit Suisse First Boston and ING Barings investment banks, were only beginning.
“We have an opinion, the consultant has already made its recommendations, we decided to privatise and sell the controlling interests in the company. I think Mr. Badulescu was a little rash when talking about the privatisation options,” Popescu said. He added the disbandment of the Office for State’s Interests and Industrial Privatisation (OPSPI) was brought up two weeks ago, because it focused on selling companies instead of privatising them, which process entails making investments and helping a company grow following privatisation. Petrom is the largest company in Romania, with some $1.5bn in market capitalisation. Its quote on the Stock Exchange was stable, closing at 1,290 ROL.
Popescu on Tuesday at the Petrobrazi Ploiesti Refinery launched the reindustrialisation concept of the Industry Ministry. To that end, projects for the national energy system, requiring more than $2bn investments over the next two years, which “could prevent its collapse in the next two or three years”, were announced.