Chinese investors reportedly interested in Romanian ailing refinery Rafo

The Rafo Onesti refinery in Romania will be sold through direct negotiation, after April 15, according to local business restructuring company CITR, the court-appointed manager of the company that owns the refinery.

Bidders are expected to submit their offers by April 15, and the starting price is USD 44.625 million. Most of the prospective bidders are foreign, according to CITR.

"There have been discussions with potential investors, most of them foreign. Refinancing and Due Diligence procedures are being carried out by potential investors, who have visited the facilities as well,” CITR representatives told Economica.net.

Unofficial sources quoted by Economica.net indicate that Chinese investors are interested in the Rafo refinery as well as rubber producer Carom and the thermal power plant nearby, in Borzesti.

CITR has included a report drafted by pipeline oil carrier Conpet in the tender book given to prospective investors, which shows the investment needed for reopening the refinery (which has not operated since 2008).

To allow investors to evaluate the feasibility of the refinery better, the Bacau Court postponed for May 16 the decision on the final bankruptcy of Rafo. The tax collection agency ANAF has asked the liquidation of the refinery, but Bacau Court on March 28 deferred for May 16 a decision on this request.

Rafo went into insolvency in October 2016. The company has over RON 330 million (EUR 70 million) in debt, over 90% of which to its former owner, Austrian-based Petrochemical Holding, which is controlled by Russian businessman Iakov Goldovski.

(Photo source: Sales.citr.ro)