The claim was filed in December 2011.
Under Law 555/2004 on Petrom’s privatization, the Government must compensate the company, between 2005 and 2019, for historic pollution before privatization. In early 2008, OMV Petrom estimated the total receivables for the environmental decontamination works at RON1.707 billion (EUR511 million) – more than 75% of the state’s earnings from the company’s privatization.
A draft Government decision’s explanatory note says the Environment Ministry has rejected OMV Petrom’s demands in November last year, arguing that the claim does not meet the conditions provided by the privatization contract, under which the state would be liable for the company’s environment losses.
In the Paris suit, Romania is represented by the Environment Ministry, which has asked the Government to increase its budget by RON820,000, to pay the arbitrators.
Romania owns 20.6% of OMV Petrom’s capital, through the Economy Ministry. OMV bought the majority stake in 2004, through a EUR1.5 billion transaction: EUR668 million for a direct share buyout and EUR832 million from a capital increase.