European Commission did not impose sale of Oltchim in pieces, says Ministry of Economy

The Romanian Ministry of Economy (MECRMA) rejected local media reports according to which the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, had allegedly imposed the sale of state-owned petrochemical plant Oltchim in several packages of assets.

The Ministry said that the mechanism for increasing the privatization chances of Oltchim was chosen by the judicial administrator.

In April 2016, the European Commission had opened an investigation into Oltchim to see if the state aid it got breached EU legislation. The company has received financial aid during 2012-2013.

The Commission’s investigation was developed in the context of the ongoing stage of establishing the sale methods, the ones that the parties decided for the reorganization plan, according to a statement of the Ministry of Economy.

The Ministry added that taking into account that Oltchim is in insolvency, the company is administered by the Rominsolv-BDO consortium, as a judicial administrator, not the MECRMA, as main shareholder. The decision and the sale methods took place within the judicial reorganization and the ones who decide are the creditors.

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MECRMA said it was constantly communicating with the EC representatives to offer help to the judicial administrator to maximize its sale chances. In this sense, the Commission was notified regarding the sale methods and the process steps.

Georgiana Bendre