Romania's former richest Dinu Patriciu moves home base to London

Romanian entrepreneur Dinu Patriciu, formerly known as the richest Romanian, has officially moved to London, his lawyers revealed. The move comes amid a divorce, with Patriciu going through an asset splitting as of last year, and after the energy, media and real estate tycoon saw most of his business go down. The high-profile divorce happened while Patriciu was recovering from liver transplant, a surgery he had, and recovered from, in London. Patriciu, the founder of oil and gas company Rompetrol, which he sold to Kazmunay Gaz in 2007, went on to invest in real estate, retail and media. With his retail chain Mic.ro and Minimax gone bust, and after selling his media business, Patriciu has some real estate properties held via two investment funds he had taken over. The divorce, along with the financial troubles, are said to have eaten a large chunk of his wealth. Patriciu went down to number 15 in the most recent Forbes Romania list, from the third place held previously. From an estimated wealth of some EUR 900 million in 2012 according to Forbes Romania, Patriciu went down to an estimated wealth of some EUR 190 million. When filing for divorce, his former wife Dana Patriciu claimed her husband’s fortune was of some EUR 2.3 billion, which placed the court fees at 3 percent of this amount. She filed for public support in order not to pay the fees, but was only given a reduction, and ordered to pay some EUR 16 million, in instalments, with the bulk of it at the end of the divorce trial, after the family assets are split. Dana Patriciu said her husband of 18 years gave away goods that belonged to the family, as he had an affair and his health was poor. She accused him of having taken furniture and décor pieces and gifts from their house in Siliştea Snagovului and given them to his mistress, or signed them off to her. The Patriciu couple together own real estate, paintings, jewellery and shares in companies in several countries. Previously estimated at some USD 1.9 billion in the Forbes international ranking, Patriciu's wealth shrunk considerably. The local rich ranking is now topped by Ioan Niculae, Dan Grigore Adamescu, and Frank Timis. Once the only Romanian included in the Forbes International ranking, Patriciu is no longer among the world's billionaires. His place was taken by Ioan Niculae, with an estimated wealth of some USD 1.1 billion. editor@romania-insider.com