Romania postpones Oltchim’s privatisation to April 2012

12 December 2011 12:29  [Source: ICIS news]

BUCHAREST (ICIS)--Romania's government is planning to sell its majority stake in chemical producer Oltchim by the end of April next year, four months later than expected, it said on Monday.

“First of all, we have to select an investment bank to manage Oltchim’s sale by mid-February. Afterwards, we should seek to sell our stake by the end of April 2012 to meet pledges to the International Monetary Fund, IMF,” a government spokeperson said.

Furthermore, the government agreed to the IMF's request that Oltchim’s planned acquisition of the Arpechim refinery from OMV Petrom should be made only after the privatisation.

In recent months, the Romanian government has been pushing forward with a privatisation timetable for the disposal of its 54.79% stake in Oltchim, as part of a commitment to economic restructuring being carried out in consultation with, and with financial support from, the IMF.

Late in November, financial advisers PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG Romania and Taylor-DeJongh (TDJ) submitted bids to become the privatisation consultant for next year’s planned sale.

Currently, Oltchim's production from both polyvinyl chloride (PVC) units at its Ramnicu Valcea facilities - an 82,000 tonne/year unit and a 120,000 tonne/year plant - is suspended because of a continued shortage of working capital and raw materials.

Based at Ramnicu Valcea in southern Romania, Oltchim produces caustic soda, petrochemicals, agrochemicals, inorganic products and building materials, including insulating polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for panels, doors and window frames.

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