Diaconescu outbid Germany’s PCC SE and local businessman Stefan Vuza at a sealed-bid auction held by the Economy Ministry.
The procedures are still ongoing and the ministry’s privatization panel is expected to present its conclusions after analyzing the offers. In the absence of a winner following the sealed-bid auction, the ministry will organize an outcry tender later today.
PCC SE, a minority holder in Oltchim, has offered RON13.4 million for the ministry’s stake in the chemical company and for two receivables held by the state, while Stefan Vuza, via his two companies Chimcomplex Borzesti and Aisa Invest offered to buy only the state’s shares for RON18.8 million and RON30 million, respectively.
PCC SE was the only bidder to submit offers for both the stake in Oltchim and the receivables.
Diaconescu and Aisa Invest made no offers for the two receivables, which total around EUR401 million, while Chimcomplex Borzesti offered RON221.4 million for the state’s stake in Oltchim and for one of the two receivables, which is held by state-run company Electrica. The company made no offer for the second receivable.
Remus Vulpescu, head of the privatization panel, said earlier Friday that the ministry hopes to sell both the majority stake in Oltchim and the receivables held by the state.
However, no receivables will be sold unless one of the bidders wins the auction to purchase Oltchim’s shares, he added.
Oltchim’s privatization is prerequisite for the disbursement of further installments of a EUR3.6 billion loan agreement signed with the IMF.