A call for tenders with a scandal at Oltchim

• PCC, the only bidder for the receivable of the AVAS

• Diaconescu only wants to buy the stake of the state in Oltchim

• Vuza only wants to buy the shares of Oltchim and the receivable of the AVAS

• A row concerning the time of the registration of the bid submitted by Dan Diaconescu

• Wojciech Zaremba, PCC, exclusively for "BURSA": "If PCC wins the privatization process, we will do everything for Oltchim to operate again, including the Arpechim division"

The monkey business around the privatization of Oltchim, with the ever-present show à la Dan Diaconescu, has lowered our image by a few notches in the eyes of investors, several businesspeople estimate, especially since the journalist announced that he would participate in all the major privatizations, such as Tarom, CFR Marfă and Hidroelectrica.

By the closing of the edition, the privatization commission had not yet announced the names of the bidders which had qualified for the call for tenders scheduled to take place today at 12:00.

Yesterday, at 12:00, the new deadline for submitting the calls for tenders for Oltchim expired. PCC also maintained the bids submitted on Monday and has added an envelope which contains clarifications concerning the financial bid. PCC wants to buy the stake of Oltchim as well as the receivables of the AVAS and Electrica.

Wojciech Zaremba, the representative of PCC for Romania, stated the following for "BURSA": "If PCC SE wins the privatization process, we will do everything for Oltchim to become operational again, including the Arpechim division. We want Oltchim to operate at full capacity and to preserve the jobs".

Businessman Ştefan Vuza has resubmitted improved bids, just like he had announced on Wednesday, when he withdrew the documentation registered on Monday. He submitted a tender offer for the acquisition of the shares owned by the state in Oltchim, through Aisa Invest as well as through Chimcomplex Borzeşti. Chimcomplex has submitted a tender offer for the receivable of Electrica as well. When asked why he didn't bid for the receivable of the AVAS, mr. Vuza replied: "It is a matter of strategy. We submitted improved bids and we are banking on a very good score. We have the backing of domestic industrial groups which include InterAgro. I can't tell you more at the present time".

Dan Diaconescu came to the Ministry of the Economy yesterday, a little after 11:00, when he announced that he would submit an improved bid, double the one which he had submitted on Monday.

Dan Diaconescu explained that he was able to afford the doubling of the bid he made for the shares which the Ministry of the Economy owns in Oltchim because he has secured the support of a major foreign investor, which is willing to invest 2 billion Euros in the plant. Mr. Diaconescu claims: "I can't disclose the name. But I can tell you that we have withdrawn the bids for the receivables of the AVAS and of Electrica because we have found out that they do not belong to the state anymore. In 2011, Oltchim transferred the rights over the receivables to another company. I can't tell you the name of the company, but it was supposed to recoup the receivables of Oltchim, and pay off the debts of the plant with the money collected. I tried to talk about this with prime-minister Victor Ponta but he did not receive me".

• Live argument between Dan Diaconescu and Remus Vulpescu

Dan Diaconescu and Remus Vulpescu, the head of the Office For The State's Interests and Industrial Privatization (OPSPI), argued live, on TV, on the time the new tender of journalist was registered. Mr. Diaconescu accused Vulpescu of trying to keep him talking for time to pass past 12:00 (the deadline for submitting the new bids) and to avoid registering the new bid submitted by the journalist. Dan Diaconescu claimed that the head of the OPSPI lured him with water and coffee, made conversation about Ştefan Vuza, and that he kept distracting him claiming various issues about the printer and the computer. Thus, the second tender submitted by Dan Diaconescu was registered at 12:04.

The TV networks only broadcasted live the row between the two, but not the alleged "baiting attempt". So we can't know whether Dan Diaconescu was indeed "baited" or not. Remus Vulpescu handled the show of Dan Diaconescu with flying colors, proposing that the documents submitted by the former be taken under consideration by the privatization commission. Which is what happened. But Dan Diaconescu, just like the other two investors, are not exempt from the risk of being disqualified.

• Diaconescu wants to sue Victor Ponta for issuing a decision prior to the end of the privatization

Dan Diaconescu told BURSA, that he wants to sue prime minister Victor Ponta for issuing a ruling in the privatization of Oltchim before it was over. The journalist said that he didn't know how the prime minister came to the conclusion that his tender was "exotic": "Perhaps the head of the OPSPI revealed information to him about the contents of the bid, after unsealing the envelope and sealing it back. Because I can't come up with any other explanation for the conclusion of the prime minister. A shareholder doesn't necessarily have to know about petrochemistry to buy Oltchim. That's what specialized managers are for".

Dan Diaconescu's lawyer, Daniel Fenechiu, said that after the completion of the privatization procedures, the journalist is going to sue Victor Ponta for the statements he made during the privatization process. Fenechiu claim that Mr. Diaconescu challenged in court the result of the privatization process which takes under consideration the receivable of the AVAS updated to include the penalties.

No complaints were filed yesterday concerning the lack of any of the tenders, of any of the envelopes or of any physical intervention on the sealed bids.

The statements made by Victor Ponta were also criticized by Ştefan Vuza, who said that the prime minister is misinformed about Chimcomplex and expressed his annoyance at the statements made about his companies.

The representatives of PCC declined to make any comments on the evolution of the privatization process and on the statements made by Victor Ponta about the company. The Prime Minister recently said that PCC, the minority shareholder of Oltchim, has been "acting in quite an obstructive manner" over the last few years.

• Ponta continues giving his opinion on the privatization

Victor Ponta said yesterday that he does not rule out the alternative of the privatization of Oltchim not going through and he said that depending on today's result it will be known whether Oltchim will be acquired by another investor or if it goes into receivership.

When asked whether he would receive Dan Diaconescu for a meeting, like he requested, the prime minister said he would do that "the first opportunity he gets", but at the moment he can't intervene in the legal procedure for the privatization of Oltchim.

Victor Ponta also said yesterday, about the privatization of Oltchim, that it is a typically "Romanian" one and he said that "maybe the PDL will step in and buy the plant, because they have more money than Dan Diaconescu".

He said, quoted by Mediafax, that, "using the employees of Oltchim, anyone can run an electoral campaign on their back. I am surprised that the PDL didn't come in to buy the plant as well, because I wouldn't have been surprised if that happened, after they brought it to where it was. Besides, I understand that Mr. Roibu is such a good friend of Adriean Videanu and of Mr. Boureanu, that they even talked".

The prime minister also discussed the statements of Dan Diaconescu about the 2 billion Euros of the investor he claims he has support from: "It would be so great if someone came and invested 2 billion Euros at this time. But I think you have just as much faith as I have that something like that would happen".