Trade union leader Corneliu Cernev said the employees no longer trust government officials and have lost all hope, adding they want Oltchim to linger on. Part of Oltchim employees are considering coming to capital city Bucharest to protest in front of the Economy Ministry’s headquarters.
Over 300 employees of Oltchim’s Bradu petrochemical division in Pitesti are also protesting Wednesday morning, displeased with the delays in the privatization of Oltchim, which affects them directly. Trade union leader Marian Dumitru said the employees have lost all hope, since the production was halted and they did not receive their meal vouchers and back wages for August.
On Friday, September 21, politician and TV station owner Dan Diaconescu won a sealed-bid auction for the majority stake in Oltchim, after bidding 203.14 million lei (EUR45 million). The politician outbid Germany’s PCC SE and local businessman Stefan Vuza.
Diaconescu refused Monday to sign the contract for the purchase of a 54.86% stake in Oltchim, saying the deal he was presented with was different from the one included in the auction documentation. Diaconescu didn’t say when the contract would be signed. According to the privatization calendar, the deal must be signed within 10 days after the auction procedures.
Diaconescu’s refusal stirred a wave of responses from Romanian officials, including Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who said the politician doesn’t have the necessary funds to pay for the shares. Ponta also said the privatization of Oltchim would be resumed in 2013, arguing the state will approve a plan of measures for the company once the so-called auction winner proves to have neither money nor the intention to become majority shareholder in Oltchim.
Oltchim’s privatization is prerequisite for the disbursement of further installments of a EUR3.6 billion loan agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund. (EUR1=RON4.5144)