Dan Voiculescu "reloaded" at Oltchim

Dan Voiculescu, the founder of the Conservative Party (PC), is a name which is being mentioned again in connection with Oltchim, at a time when the authorities are preparing for a new attempt to privatize the company, this time through the insolvency process.

The union leaders at Oltchim yesterday said, after a meeting with the new minister of the Economy - Andrei Gerea, that Marius Pârvu will replace Mihail Tălpăşanu as the CEO of Oltchim. Until yesterday, Marius Pârvu served as the manager of the Bradu petrochemical division of Oltchim.

There is a rumor making the rounds through the plant which says that Mr. Pârvu is heavily backed by the Conservative Party, whose founder has long been interested in Oltchim.

In 2012, the BURSA newspaper reported that Roibu was planning to privatize Oltchim, through a few companies and people that he was friendly with, including Dan Voiculescu, a group of Israeli businesspeople represented by Gheorghe Alexandru Hetel and Socar. Meanwhile, his plans failed, and Oltchim has yet to be privatized.

One of the scenarios making the rounds in Vâlcea is that the Conservative Party is gaining ground again at Oltchim and, as a result, so are the Russians of Oil Gas Trade, whom are said to be testing the waters for Gazprom to acquire Oltchim. Officially, Oil Gas Trade announced that it intends to invest about 300 million Euros in Oltchim and that it is interested in acquiring the petrochemical division as well. This scenario does not exclude the possibility of Roibu having joined forces with Voiculescu again to acquire Oltchim on the cheap, since it is now insolvent and struggling to raise funding.

Another scenario making the rounds at the plant of Vâlcea is that Marius Pârvu has been elected as general manager of the plant precisely because he is an opponent of Constantin Roibu, having stood out as one of his critics a few years ago. The theory is that Marius Pârvu is being promoted to lead the plant precisely to fend off Roibu, who, even though he was fired by the receivers, is still allgedy still meddling at Oltchim and is obstructing its reorganization.

• Piperea: "The sale of Ramplast has failed"

"The sale of Ramplast, the maker of PVC profiles owned by Oltchim, has failed because it has been torpedoed and sabotaged", Gheorghe Piperea, one of the receivers of the plant said yesterday. He did not go into details, even though he has hinted at the union members who are allegedly "Constantin Roibu's people" and who have constantly challenged the attempt to sell Ramplast.

The receiver says that "Dynamic Selling Group", the only bidder and the winner of the call for bids, refused to conclude the deal. "Every effort we have made to raise the necessary funding for Oltchim has been impeded", lawyer Piperea said.

Corneliu Cernev, one of the union leaders at Oltchim, yesterday said that the deal with Ramplast was not concluded because the Galaţi-based "Dynamic Selling Grup" had problems in securing financing. He also said: "Most likely the call for bids for the sale of Ramplast will be reprised. There are signs that Dynamic may resolve its financing problems. They have a debt towards Oltchim which needs to be repaid".

Ramplast was sold to Dynamic Selling Group of Galaţi for 3.75 million Euros plus VAT. Oltchim was supposed to receive a total of 7.75 million Euros. Dynamic Selling Group was supposed to pay 3.75 million Euros plus VAT within 30 banking days, which represented the equivalent value of the assets of Ramplast, and 4 more million Euros - the equivalent value of the inventory of Ramplast and of its debts towards Oltchim.

The PVC profiles maker was used as collateral by the former management of Oltchim for the benefit of Cypriot company Calvi Trade (a secured creditor of Oltchim, and which is allegedly controlled by Constantin Roibu). Last week, the bankruptcy judge approved giving the company of Cyprus a different collateral to replace Ramplast, selected from among the unencumbered assets of Oltchim. BURSA recently wrote that Ramplast is "dependent" on Dynamic Selling Group, for which Ramplast, which is owned by Oltchim has been working since 2008, processing the raw materials, according to sources from inside the plant.

The receivers have presented the sale of Ramplast as a step that is extremely important for the future of Oltchim. Piraeus Bank and Banca Transilvania want to finance Oltchim with up to 10 million Euros, in exchange for the creditors' committee accepting the sale of Ramplast, sources from within the plant are saying.

Many claim that Dynamic Selling Group SRL is actually secretly controlled by Constantin Roibu, who now unemployed, is playing games with the nerves of the receivers, through various companies which he controls indirectly. According to data from the Trade Registry, the shareholders of Dynamic Selling Group are Gabriel Stoian (75%) and Cristian Stoleru (25%). The two businesspeople are close to Constantin Roibu, as they have long-standing business relationships with Oltchim.

Mr. Roibu recently told us that he has no connection with Dynamic Selling Group and with the sale of Ramplast. "I get blamed or accused of being behind anything that happens at Oltchim", he said.

The receivers claim that Oltchim needs 15 million Euros to increase output. 13 million Euros are needed for raw materials, utilities, wages and production related services integrated with the manufacturing line for phtalic oxo-anhydride- dyoctilphtalate, and 2 million Euros are needed for the costs of resuming the operation of the phtalic oxo - anhydride - dyoctilphtalate production line and for the absolutely necessary repairs of the currently functional production installations (mainly the Membrane Electrolysis Installation).

Yesterday, union member Mihai Diculoiu, who is said to be one of the people of Roibu inside the plant, said that the sale of Ramplast would not be beneficial for the plant because this kind of operations should not be conducted without an approved reorganization plan. Furthermore, he claims that Ramplast has been used as collateral and therefore it may not be sold in a call for bids, especially to a company which owes Oltchim money.

• Something's got to give

Without financing, after ten months of insolvency, the plant of Vâlcea has reached a critical point, where the authorities need to decide whether they privatize Oltchim or they shut it down. The receivers (Gheorghe Piperea and Niculae Bălan) and the Ministry of the Economy rule out the notion of the default. Niculae Bălan says that "there is money to be found, but it is the credibility of Oltchim that needs to be rebuilt".

The authorities and the receivers are now endorsing the idea of privatization through the reorganization plan, specifically the approval of the report concerning the valuation of the assets, the approval of the creation of Oltchim 2 (an SPV with all of its debts wiped), and the approval of the price at which Oltchim 2 would be sold.

The receivers and the unionists consider that privatization is the only solution for Oltchim, if it is to stand any chance of a turnaround.

Yesterday, Gheorghe Piperea said: "There are voices that say that we need to keep looking for investors for Oltchim, namely, major companies, that would acquire the plant bundled with the Arpechim refinery. I don't know whether Oltchim has that much time left. I understand why there is this notion of searching for investors, because the authorities want to develop an integrated Oltchim, with a turnover of 1 billion Euros. The three investors which have applied for the privatization of Oltchim are not that big and aren't that impressive. But Oltchim can survive in a downsized form and can reach a turnover of 100-200 million Euros a year".

According to the Ministry of the Economy, the companies left in the race for the privatization of Oltchim are the Russians of Oil Gas Trade (OGT) LLC, the PCC-Fortissimo Capital consortium, as well as the SIFs, which want to set up a consortium for investments in Oltchim, together with Chimcomplex Borzeşti, Salrom and Tricon Energy.

The receivers yesterday announced that the valuation of the assets of Oltchim is ready and it is going to be approved by the creditors.

According to some sources from within the plant, this assessment would indicate that the plant would be worth approximately 170 million Euros in the event of its liquidation and 290 million Euros in the case of privatization.