Vladescu: There's a risk that the state might become Rompetrol shareholder again

Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu is taking into account the risk that Rompetrol, controlled by Kazakh-group KazMunaiGaz might not pay the entire 600 million-euro amount required to redeem the bonds held by the Romanian state, due this September, which could become the year's top financial story.
"We might end up Rompetrol shareholders again because the contract on the conversion of the company's historic debts into bonds taken by the state includes a potential flaw: the Kazakhs may redeem them in full or in part. This would allow them to conduct a certain arbitrage and keep a certain percentage, while giving the rest to the state," Vladescu told ZF in an interview.
Still, he does not see a specific reason as to why the bonds should not be redeemed in full. At the end of last year President Traian Basescu said in a TV show that he was convinced the Kazakh group that took over Rompetrol in 2007 would pay the debt to the Romanian state in full. Dinu Patriciu, the businessman who persuaded Premier Adrian Nastase to agree to converting Rompetrol's debts into bonds in 2003, sold all this shares in 2007 and then in 2009 for more than 1 billion euros.
The 600 million euros that Rompetrol owes are the main non-tax revenues that the state budget expects to get this year, Vladescu says.
As for revenues from taxes and duties, the Finance Minister says that the only change that will come into force this year is the replacement of the minimum tax with the lump-sum tax by sectors of activity, which is to be applied as of 1st of July.
"Besides the lump-sum tax, which I hope will be operational on 1st of July, we will not change even a single thing in the taxation system in 2010, we will go forward with the current structure, with revenues of 30% of GDP."
Vladescu, however, has big plans to reform the tax and duty system, which he believes is out of touch with the current times.