The shareholders of SNP Petrom, the largest company on the Romanian market, have decided during their latest EGM held at the end of last year to replace two of the members of the Board of Directors. Petrom is now undergoing privatisation, with the State expecting to get binding offers by the end of February.
One of the new directors in the Board of the oil company is Petru Georgel Stratulat, who replaces his wife, Iuliana Maria Stratulat, the current chairperson of the National Mineral Resources Agency (ANRM). Petru Stratulat is now advisor for ore related-issues within ANRM and in is charge of the relations with international institutions, ANRM sources say. He has been with Agency since 1998-1999, before his wife became ANRM chairperson, following the elections in 2000. The Stratulats could not be reached for comment.
The second new member of the Board is a Dutch citizen, Van Den Broek Dick, who actually represents the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), sources on the market say. The privatisation strategy will allow EBRD to get about 5% in Petrom by swapping the loan granted to the company for equity. Petrom got a $150 million loan from EBRD, which was aimed at completing oil refining investment projects in order to prepare for privatisation.
Economy and Trade minister Dan Ioan Popescu announced two months ago that changes will be made in Petrom's Board of Directors, given that the company needed to take steps and collect its receivables worth some 15,000bn ROL (more than $450 million). Several investors in the race for Petrom's privatisation have expressed concern about Petrom's high receivables and about how hard it is to collect them.
The Economy and Trade Ministry increased its stake in Petrom from 92.96% to 93.04% by including some plots of land for which it got property deeds into the share capital. The capital was therefore increased from 37,734bn ROL to 38,210bn ROL, with the par value of the shares reaching 1,000 ROL.
The remaining shares are listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and held by minority shareholders.
Petrom last traded for 1,470 ROL/share, which brought its capitalisation to some $1.7bn. Petrom's shareholders endorsed the adjustments to the 2003 budget and the 2004 budget at the end of last year.
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