“Please set up everything we (e.n. Government) have to do by Monday, as depending on whether the contract is signed, you should present the strategy for special administration, payment of wages, activity restart and everything needed for a new better organized sale. (…) Please be prepared for both possibilities,” Ponta told Chitoiu at the beginning of Wednesday Government session.
On Friday, 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 Monday refused 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 Ponta, who said the politician doesn’t have the necessary funds to pay for the shares.
Oltchim’s privatization is prerequisite for the disbursement of further installments of a EUR3.6 billion loan agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund.
The chemical company reported losses of RON188.2 million (EUR41.7 million) in the first half of 2012, more than double on the year. The company has total debts worth EUR700 million. (EUR1=RON4.5168)