The Senate had the final say on the matter.
Rompetrol, a unit of Kazakh KazMunayGas, said in February it reached an agreement with government officials to buy back a minority stake in its unit Rompetrol Rafinare (RRC.RO).
“The Rompetrol Group and the Romanian state, represented by the state’s privatizations office OPSPI, have signed a memorandum of understanding to settle their litigation over the conversion of Rompetrol Rafinare bonds into shares to the benefit of the state,” Rompetrol said in a statement in February.
The Senate approved the memorandum with 79 to 17 votes and eight abstentions.
Under the agreement, Rompetrol pledges to buy a 26% stake in Rompetrol Rafinare from OPSPI for $200 million.
The two parties also agreed to set up a joint investment fund to be 80%-owned by The Rompetrol Group and 20%-controlled by the Romanian state.
Basescu argues the bill has no general character and is meant to apply to a particular case.
In October 2003, Romania’s government issued an ordinance turning the state budget liabilities of Rompetrol’s refinery Rompetrol Rafinare into seven-year bonds worth $603 million, including interest and penalties.
The bonds were to be bought back by September 2010, but Rompetrol only bought back bonds worth $71 million and decided to convert into shares another 20.6 million bonds to fuel a capital increase.
Following the conversion, the state has received a stake of 44.59% in Rompetrol Rafinare, while the Rompetrol Group’s holding in the refinery decreased to 54% from 99% previously.
The Romanian authorities were unhappy with the move and filed a legal action to have the capital increase annulled.