FECNE was acquired by "Romenergo"

• A perfect illustration of bankruptcy

"Rovigo" SPRL, the liquidator of FECNE, recently succeeded in selling the entirety of the assets of the plant located on the IMGB platform to "Romenergo", after several tenders. The deal was concluded at a price of 2.5 million Euros, with the assets being valued at three million Euros. The starting price of the first auction was 5 million Euros.

Reputed Vasile Deleanu, the coordinating partner of "Rovigo" SPRL, said: "The process wasn"t easy at all, but we did succeed in selling FECNE as a whole instead of piecemeal and to rescue a company which has an important role in our energy industry, particularly in the nuclear sector. I have to tell you that this case is a textbook example of how bankruptcy goes in America: all of the company"s resources, including the assets and skilled workers, were acquired by the new owner, which will have the company perform its operations. In most cases, bankruptcy is perceived negatively in Romania. Our preoccupation is to eliminate this perception, and FECNE is an example of success because the new owner will maintain the operations of a key company for our future nuclear projects".

Mr. Deleanu said that in the case of the FECNE the liquidator had to be flexible in its implementation of the law of insolvency. The bankruptcy procedure was initiated in October 2010 - after five years since the beginning of the insolvency procedure and after the failing of the reorganization plan -, and FECNE gradually stopped its activity, in order to first honor its ongoing contracts. The 250 skilled workers gradually entered unemployment, and they have currently been taken over by the new owner.

The insolvency practitioner of "Rovigo" SPRL also said that by autumn, "Rovigo" will continue with recouping the company"s receivables, and will succeed in covering up to 90% of the claims of the company"s body of creditors. The main creditor of FECNE is the state, via the National Tax Administration Agency.

Vasile Deleanu said: "Under normal circumstances, in the event of a bankruptcy, the assets of the company would have been sold off individually. And I am referring here to plots of land, equipment, machinery and other assets.

It would have ended up as a real estate business and its production of nuclear and other energy equipment would have died off. We chose to pay more attention to the industrial activity and to sell the company as a whole, especially since FECNE has a bright history as a supplier for Units 1 and 2 of Cernavodă as well as for other branches of our Energy sector".

At the time when FECNE entered the bankruptcy procedure, its majority shareholder was "Nuclearmontaj", a company held by Ovidiu Tender. A few years ago, the notorious businessman of Timişoara gained control of several companies which manufactured and supplied nuclear equipment for the Cernavodă plant, betting that Units 3 and 4 of Cernavodă would be built. But the state was slow to begin implementing the 4-billion Euros project, which put the companies controlled by Ovidiu Tender in a difficult situation. "Nuclearmontaj" is currently going through the insolvency procedure.

Sources from the energy market claim that the new owner of FECNE is also betting on the project of the Units 3 and 4. The buyer of FECNE also took custody of several pieces of equipment which were the property of "Nuclearelectrica" SA, which they will keep to use in the construction of reactors 3 and 4. If the project of Cernavodă gets completed, the deal could be worth 10-20 million Euros.