“Rompetrol wants to redeem in a first phase 25% of the state’s shares in the refinery, with the reminder stake to be bought later,” the mentioned people told Mediafax.
At the current market price, Rompetrol would pay around 273 million lei (EUR62.1 million) for the 25% stake.
Romania’s second-biggest oil group Rompetrol Friday said it has reached an agreement with government officials to buy back an unspecified stake in its unit Rompetrol Rafinare.
“To say that they’ve reached an understanding it would be too much. They’ve outline an action course,” the people close to the matter said.
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.
Registered in the Netherlands, Rompetrol is wholly-owned by Kazakhstan’s state-run oil company KazMunayGas.