At 3 p.m. last Friday, two press releases announced the sale by Dinu Patriciu of the last 25 percent in Rompetrol. Over the following few hours, nobody would comment on the sale. Everyone was waiting for somebody else to start talking ”on the record” about one of the most eagerly awaited deals in Romania. All with whom BUSINESS Magazin tried to talk on Friday evening brought up a few common points: how much Dinu Patriciu sold for is not that important, how he did it is.

The deal was announced by two press releases: one sent by KazMunaiGaz, whereby chairman Kayrgeldy Kabyldin said the acquisition of the last stake of Rompetrol was in line with KMGís strategy to develop abroad, and the second release came from Dinu Patriciu, who said he had decided to exercise his right to sell to KMG the remaining 25 percent stake in Rompetrol Group. That the two parties did not send a joint release says one important thing about the relationship between the Kazakhs and Dinu Patriciu. ”I believe Dinu Patriciu has never had a very good relationship with those to whom he sold the business, but I think that by selling Rompetrol, he made two masterful moves in this time of crisis,” said one of the businessmen in the petroleum world interviewed by BUSINESS Magazin.

The price at which the sale was done is an interesting topic, too. According to sources on the market, last weekís sale was tightly connected to the sale in August 2007, when Dinu Patriciu and Phil Stephenson sold 75 percent in Rompetrol to the Kazakhs at KazMunaiGAz for 1.6 billion dollars, with the company thus valued at 2.2 billion dollars. Patriciu is the winner of the crisis twice, because with the deal sealed two years ago he checked, as he sold, before the crisis, a company whose rating has significantly gone down in the meantime. He now checkmated: he sold at a time when the crisis is in full swing and also escaped the deadline of the debts (which is June 2010). According to sources on the market, the contract initially signed by Patriciu included a mention that the sale of the 25 percent was to be done at a price at least equal to the company estimate in 2007. If we take that estimate into account, Patriciu collected approximately 533 million euros for the 25 percent. Even though he sold, Patriciu is still involved in the court case of Petromidia privatisation.

Traducere de Loredana Fratila-Cristescu si Daniela Stoican