The state wants to have the first option when buying the Liberty Galati complex, after its sale failed
The government announced that it discussed in Thursday's meeting, in the first reading, a draft GEO that gives the state leverage to intervene in the case of large companies facing financial problems. According to a document consulted by HotNews, the protection of the interests of companies in difficulty, such as Liberty Galati, is mentioned. The Liberty Galati steel mill, formerly Sidex, is in preventive bankruptcy, a form of restructuring, being put up for sale.
An auction for the sale of Liberty Galati and Liberty Tubular Products Galati was held last week, but no bid was submitted, although the specification was bought by five potential investors, according to Digi24. The two companies from Galati are managed by the CITR – Euro Insol consortium as joint administrators.
The GEO project was initiated by the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economy and targets companies in heavy industry, energy, communications and critical infrastructure.
To be declared of strategic interest, a company must meet several criteria, such as the systemic impact on the labor market, the security of supply chains or the possession of licenses to exploit non-energy mineral resources.
The state will have the right of preemption
The most important provision of the normative act is the establishment of the right of preemption of the Romanian state. This means that if the owners of a strategic company decide to sell shares or important assets, the state has priority in the acquisition.
“The state benefits from the right of pre-emption in the event of the transfer of the ownership right over the shares in the companies declared of strategic interest and over the assets declared of strategic interest by Government Decision”, it is specified in the project consulted by HotNews.
According to the draft normative act, the state can acquire shares in companies declared strategic, “in order to protect national interests”.
The financing of these purchases could be done directly from the budget reserve fund available to the Government.
CSAT will have the final say
The relevant ministry will have to carry out an impact analysis, followed by an information note to the Government. Subsequently, the actual declaration of a company as being of strategic interest is made by Government Decision, but only with the prior approval of the Supreme National Defense Council (CSAT).
The project defines a list of strategic areas in which the state can intervene, from the extractive industry to information technology.
The list of strategy areas includes:
- extractive industry,
- Manufacturing industry – the sectors aimed at the production of steel, aluminum, cement, chemical products;
- Defense industry;
- Information and communication technology
- Maritime and port industry
- Transportation of electricity, natural gas, crude oil and fuels
- Production, distribution, supply and storage of natural gas
- Production, distribution, storage and supply of electrical and thermal energy, as well as other alternative/unconventional energy sources
- Production, distribution, supply and storage of crude oil and fuels
According to the Government, the draft normative act aims to prevent the loss of some strategic industrial capacities.
