Authorities now expect to collect only half of the due 571m euros from Petromidia

The Romanian state did not have any say in the sale of the Rompetrol group, built by businessman Dinu Patriciu around the Petromidia refinery, to the Kazakh state-held company KazMunaiGaz, a deal which made Patriciu the wealthiest man in Romania, although it has 571 million euros in debt to recover from Rompetrol Rafinare.
At present the state is not sure the KazMunaiGaz group will pay the 571 million euros, and could become a shareholder of Petromidia again, at a time when it badly needs cash. The Government expects to collect only half the amount due this year, i.e. around 285 million euros, given the company's lack of cash, according to Romania's convergence programme for 2009-2012. For the rest of the amount, Romania could receive shares in Rompetrol Rafinare.
Some market experts say that in such transactions the creditor's approval is not necessary, with the Romanian state not being directly involved in the transaction, while others say imposing certain conditions would have been a smart move.