Patriciu says it was sheer luck he decided to sell Rompetrol to the oil group, KazMunaiGaz of Kazakhstan, and not to a financial institution, particularly given the current crisis.
The Kazakhs' plans for Rompetrol are drastic ones: selling all operations not tied to the oil group's core business and implicitly cutting down Rompetrol's number of employees by around 2,000 in the next three years.
What could have been a blessing in terms of the size of reserves proves to be a reality quite hard to manage in the absence of major infrastructure that should allow for these huge natural riches to be exported and this does not apply only to KazMunaiGaz, which acquired 75% of Rompetrol last year, but to the entire country.
The country gets a large part of its GDP from energy exports, but because of its size the shipment of resources inside the country is a real challenge.
The value of the deal with Rompetrol appeared in the Kazakhs' 2007 annual report, whilst restructuring plans were unveiled partially, just like development ones. The figures were startling: 1.6bn dollars paid to gain control over Rompetrol, 2,000 layoffs once some assets are sold, investments worth 600m dollars so far in Rompetrol and plans of further hundreds of millions of dollars for group expansion.
KazMunaiGaz has the same problem as the country it represents: huge reserves, but insufficient refining capacities and an almost inexistent retail network. Thus, the acquisition of Rompetrol and the addition of Petromidia refinery to the portfolio has been a real breath of fresh air. The group's biggest refinery dates back to 1945 and is currently undergoing massive retooling. "We've been looking at several refineries for a possible acquisition that could be done through Rompetrol and there are now 46 such targets," said KazMunaiGaz' officials.
On the retail segment, KazMunaiGaz has quite a low presence on the market, of around 4%, with most sales being operated on the wholesale segment.
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