Romanian Senate tacitly approves cancellation of Petrom privatization contract

The Romanian Senate tacitly passed a draft law providing the grounds for the cancellation of the contract for the privatization of Petrom – the biggest Romanian oil company on Tuesday.

The bill was approved without a vote as the deadline for such a vote has passed. The initiative belongs to nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM) MPs and it further needs the approval of the Chamber of Deputies. If voted, the law will unilaterally cancel the contract attesting that the Austrian OMV company purchased Petrom in 2004.

The privatization of Petrom is closely followed by a special commission in the Senate whose first report recommended the cancellation of the contract. The report however was sent back to the Commission due to procedural errors.

The Austrian giant OMV bought a majority stake in Petrom in 2004. The price paid amounts to some 700 million euro.