Privatization of big Romanian chemical plant heads to second stage

The offers submitted by the companies interested to take over insolvent chemical producer Oltchim’s assets will be selected based on the amounts obtained by the company’s creditors. The bidders that move to the second stage will be able to carry out a due-diligence process in February, according to a document drafted by AT Kearney Management Consulting, the company in charge of the privatization process, reports local News.ro. Economy minister Alexandru Petrescu said yesterday that several companies submitted bids for Oltchim’s assets until the deadline that expired last Friday. At this point, the bidders had no formal obligation to acquire the assets of Oltchim. He didn’t mention their number. The invitations for the second stage will be sent only to bidders whose unbinding offers are the most “economical”, according to the document. The potential buyers of Oltchim need to pay compensation wages to all the employees who will be laid off, according to AT Kearney. If they decide to keep a part of the current employees, they can get a bonus of EUR 5,000 for each employee. However, they can keep maximum 50% of the current number of employees. In 2016, the Romanian state put up for sale nine asset packages in Oltchim. The company's reorganization plan provides the sale of the plant for at least EUR 307 million. Oltchim entered insolvency on January 30, 2013. The company had EUR 790 million worth of debt. The state and state-owned companies had to recover some EUR 470 million, while two banks, BCR and Banca Transilvania, had EUR 26 million worth of outstanding loans to Oltchim. editor@romania-insider.com