Speaking at an energy conference in Bucharest Friday, Almunia said the authorities in Brussels are analyzing Romania’s request for a debt-to-equity swap at the chemical plant, to determine whether it would comply with state aid regulations.
Romanian government has pledged to sell a series of energy and oil companies by 2012, including Oltchim.
Under a EUR5.4 billion loan agreement signed with the EU, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Oltchim should be privatized early next year.
Keeping that deadline is not solely the responsibility of the European Commission and its extension would be due to the lack of information from the Romanian authorities and the failure to fulfill the agreements assumed, Almunia said.