Financial Press Review, 20 July

The Petrom shares and the Spanish restrictions on the labor market are today’s main topics.

Below the headline “Boc gives up 110 million euro to sell Petrom”, the Ziarul Financiar writes that yesterday the Government approved the minimum sale price for the Petrom shares, 19 percent less than the maximum price of 0.46 RON a share, announced in the beginning.

There have not been any large subscriptions.

Yesterday’s minimum price reflects current market conditions, when investors are reluctant to risk.

The Government is hoping to convince undecided investors with this offer, the newspaper writes.

“Who is the Petrom offer actually for?” the Curierul Naţional reads on the first page.

“The obscurity of the operation and the lack of advertising indicate that the state is looking for a big buyer”.

Market rumors say the buyer is “from the Russian capital area”.

Below the headline “Gazprom wants Rompetrol gas stations – the Kazakhs won’t sell, they want to expand”, the Curierul Naţional writes that “Russian power giant has expressed its intention to buy the entire distribution network of the Rompetrol group for 500 million euro”.

Rompetrol Group has almost 1 100 distribution points, 800 of which in Romania.

“It would be illogical to sell the distribution network, but keep the refinery”, the daily quotes Rompetrol financial manager, Dmitri Grigoryev.

“Russians aim at Rompetrol, but fail”, the Bursa reads on the same topic.

“The Spaniards’ intention to impose restriction on the labor market for Romanians will be limited for now”, a Ziarul Financiar headline reads.

With an unemployment rate of 20 percent, the highest in the EU, Spain intends to protect its labor market from new immigrants. The measure will not apply retroactively. It concerns potential Romanian immigrants, not those already living in Spain.

Last year the Romanians in Spain sent home over 1.2 billion euro.

“There are around 3 million Romanians working abroad”, the Ziarul Financiar reads.

Translated by Gabriela Lungu, MA Student
MTTLC, Bucharest University