As the privatisation of SNP (National Oil Company) Petrom is mired into the endless problems related to the property rights for some lands and significant receivables, the Government is likely to speed up the sale of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR), to showcase its will to let go of at least one of the two state-owned giants that dominate the economy.
The idea has been recently suggested, officially, by Premier Adrian Nastase himself, who said that Petrom would not be sold for any price, but the privatisation of BCR may advance at a faster pace. Should the State retain control over both companies, this would cast doubt upon the functional market economy status again.
The Government will meet with the International Monetary Fund officials next months and must come up with solid reasons to justify the new extension of the sale deadline for Petrom and an alternative project, such as the one regarding BCR. Petrom should bring at least one billion dollars, to help finance the increasing current account deficit.
"We do have the possibility to speed up the privatisation of BCR, even this year. As for Petrom, we will keep pushing for a change in legislation on lands and will try to find solutions to the environment issues posed by the operated fields. Receivables are yet another issue," a high-ranking government official has said.
The authorities have pledged to the international financial institutions to conclude the privatisation of Petrom this year, after the definitive sale of BCR had been postponed until 2006, due to the agreement closed with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's investment arm.
The Government's credibility seems to have been saved early this year by German group HVB, which has revealed plans to bid for a stake in BCR, through Bank Austria Creditanstalt, even though the Romanian state had not officially requested submission of offers.
"We now have a potential strategic investor, which certainly meets every possible requirement. HVB officials have openly voiced plans to take over BCR, during a recent meeting with officials from the National Bank of Romania. The Austrians implied that, this time, they had enough money for such a transaction," banking sources say.
Even though rumours pointed to three banking groups that were allegedly interested in BCR at the end of last year, HVB would be the first to speak up. The German group had already performed due diligence work at BCR in 2002 and is therefore familiar with the bank's situation. However, the group was not able to go at it alone (because of its financial situation) and teamed up with Hungarian bank OTP, a formula that was rejected by the Romanian Government.
"I am not aware of any talks. All I know is that the money earned from the bond issue launched by the parent bank late last year - more than one billion euros, will be used to fund acquisitions in Central and Eastern Europe. Moreover, according to the latest official statements made by the bank's president, the bulk of this money will be used for acquisitions in Southeastern Europe," Dan Pascariu, president of HVB Bank Romania told Ziarul Financiar.
The German group is also in talks to take over Banca Tiriac, a transaction that could be easier and faster to close than BCR, and which is also deemed as an effective expansion method.
razvan.voican@zf.ro ; oana.nuta@zf.ro
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