FIVE COUNTRIES VISITED IN LESS THAN 48 HOURS Diaconescu, playing "quidditch" abroad for Oltchim

The "quidditch" game around Oltchim has been played away for one day and a half, as Dan Diaconescu flew off on a broom, just like Harry Potter, to look for investors in Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Monaco. The journalist yesterday confirmed the news published exclusively by the BURSA newspaper, that he had left for Spain. According to our sources, Diaconescu went there to get money from a Russian investor.

Mr. Diaconescu declined to say whether he got the money and how the game went, telling journalists to go get that information from the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service, which he claimed followed him every step of the way. The winner of the call for tenders of Oltchim said that he would leave the country again, and promised he would return on Friday, bringing sensational news.

According to information obtained by BURSA, even though the journalist bluffed his way in into the privatization of Oltchim, he still has a small chance of obtaining the necessary funds, in the time he still has left to sign the contract.

Our sources claim that Dan Diaconescu was promised that he would get the money he needs for Oltchim, but it is unclear whether that promise would be honored.

Dan Diaconescu may become a victim of the "Russian roulette", because there can be no doubts that Moscow would be more interested in compromising the privatization of Oltchim, which would see its shares drop vertiginously after this scandal, and would then be acquired at a much lower price.

The journalist yesterday said, after his visit abroad: "If the government only wants to shut down the plant or to declare it bankrupt, I, together with my friends, want to reopen it. We are looking for new markets, we are looking to acquire raw materials, at the best prices possible, and to sell products at prices as high as possible to resume operation, perhaps even on Monday, if the Government will accept our conditions. At any rate, we will resume operation very soon".

Mr. Diaconescu said he has the money he needs to buy Oltchim, and stressed that he would sign the contract when the Government will accept his terms. "For us, what concerns us is raising sufficient funds for Tarom and CFR and then we will seriously be talking about Hidroelectrica and Nuclearelectrica", he said.

• Diaconescu wants guarantees that the state will not declare Oltchim insolvent

Dan Diaconescu has asked the Office For The State's Interests and Industrial Privatization (OPSPI) for guarantees that the AVAS and Electrica will not ask for the insolvency of the plant after they sign the contract for the acquisition of the majority stake of the state in Oltchim.

Daniel Fenechiu, the journalist's lawyer, said yesterday: "We want the OPSPI to guarantee that none of the state-owned creditors of Oltchim, like Electrica, CFR or Salrom, will ask for the insolvency of the plant. We are also asking for the concrete method by which we will take over the Arpechim refinery to be established. The state needs to deal with the situation of the wages of the employees of Oltchim. The Oltchim union has a request, which we have adopted, that by the time of the signing of the contract, the state pay the salaries of the employees of the plant to date".

He claims that he has asked the OPSPI to present the updated figures which reveal the economic and legal status of Oltchim. The lawyer also said that Dan Diaconescu has adopted the demands of the unionists of Oltchim: that the line of business of Oltchim be preserved for at least ten years, and that all the jobs and the current collective labor contract be preserved.

Dan Diaconescu isn't rushing to sign the privatization contract because he has until Monday inclusively to do so.

• Ponta is asking Chiţoiu to prepare the strategy for Oltchim going into receivership

Yesterday, Prime Minister Victor Ponta has asked the minister of the Economy, Daniel Chiţoiu, to prepare for Monday, when the deadline by which Dan Diaconescu can pay the price for the shares of the state in Oltchim, both action alternatives for Oltchim, including the plan to launch the receivership procedure.

According to Mediafax, he has said: "Please prepare by Monday, the steps we need to follow, and on that day, depending on the outcome, whether the contract is signed or not - you must present our strategy for receivership, the payment of wages, the resumption of operations, and everything that a new privatization process entails, only this time it needs to be much better thought out and implemented than the strategy we had to pick up an run with. Get ready for both alternatives".

The head of the government has asked the minister to continue the talks, including today, with the heads of the plant and the representatives of the union of Oltchim and to explain to each of the two parties why it was impossible to postpone the call for tenders and to conversion the plant's debt into equity.

• The government may come up with money for Oltchim in November at the earliest

Oltchim may get money from the state, through a safeguard aid, in November at the earliest, because the operation depends on the approval of the European Commission, and in such cases Brussels takes 30 days to answer, much less than in the case of other types of aid schemes.

The president of the Competition Council, Bogdan Chiriţoiu, said: "In such situations, the response of the European Commission is much quicker, because it is assumed that you have an emergency situation, you are looking to keep a company alive. Still, the deadline is 30 days starting from the date the notification is received".

He explained that such an aid can be granted for a period of at most six months, in the form of money, as well as in the form of guarantees. At the end of the six months, the government is required to present a restructuring plan which would have to be approved by the European Commission, or else, the entire amount would have to be repaid, including interest and penalties.