Rompetrol Group Plans $350 Mln Investment in Romania

Oil and gas group Rompetrol plans to invest $350 million (256.4 million euro) in the next three years in Romania in a cogeneration plant and new filling stations, as part of a memorandum signed with the government in Bucharest, local media reported on Tuesday.

Dutch-based Rompetrol Group plans to invest $150 million in the construction of a cogeneration plant near its Romania-based Petromidia refinery, the group's main asset, and $200 million in the expansion of its network of filling stations in the country, which now includes 450 units, financial daily Ziarul Financiar said.

The investments are part of a $1.0 billion fund which the group pledged to set up for investments in energy projects in Romania in the next seven years.

According to the memorandum, Rompetrol Group, owned by Kazakhstan's KazMunayGaz, will purchase a 26.6959% stake in Rompetrol Rafinare from the Romanian state for $200 million in cash with $175 million representing the price of the shares, and another $25 million representing the agreed premium for the absolute voting majority to be acquired by Rompetrol Group. As a result, Romania's interest in the company will be reduced to 18%, which cannot by transferred, nor diluted in the next three years.

Rompetrol Rafinare, the refining unit of the group, operates two refineries - Petromidia and a smaller one, Vega.

Prime minister Victor Ponta plans to approve the memorandum with Rompetrol Group via a government decision, after in November last year a law approving the memorandum was declared illegal by Romania's Constitutional Court.

Source: SeeNews