Rompetrol SA, a closed company, requested the Bucharest County Court to initiate the reorganization proceedings against the company, so as to enable the furtherance of the commercial operations thereof conducted both domestically and abroad.
At the end of the former year, the Bucharest Court of Appeal committed the Company jointly with other individuals to the payment of the amount of USD 58.5 million, plus legal interest computed as of 05.01.2001. The aspects considered by the Bucharest Court of Appeal referred to a series of deeds perpetrated throughout the period 1999-2001, long before 2007 when KazMunayGas became the major shareholder of the group of companies Rompetrol SA is part of.
Following the ruling of this court resolution, the Company has shown its full openness throughout the conduct of the legal proceedings initiated by the tax authorities as to the identification and assessment of the Company’s assets, a precautionary seizure being set by the said authorities on such assets.
The enforcement of the court resolution referred to hereinabove, including the enforcement of the legal interest, which in the opinion of the tax authorities accounts for a three-time higher amount than the main debt, gives rise to a major financial imbalance for the Company with immediate effect on its current activities – cut-off of its specific operations, ongoing agreements, investments and implicitly on its employees.
We hereby specify that the aggregate value of the own-fund investments made by Rompetrol SA for the development of the exploration works in Romania and the purchase of drilling facilities necessary to extend abroad the activities in this industry exceeds the amount of USD 50 million. At the same time, legal proceedings have been initiated to enforce the former owner of Rompetrol Group's obligations in the context of the resolution passed by the Bucharest Court of Appeal.
The reorganization of the activity of Rompetrol SA shall enable the furtherance of the services ancillary to the land oil drilling activities in Morocco, where the company was awarded a contract in 2014 after being forced to shut-down its activities in Libya further to the political instability existing on that territory, and in Romania, where there are chances to switch from the exploration phase to the exploitation and hydrocarbons production phase.
We would also like to specify that the other activities of the Group companies shall not be affected in any way whatsoever by this reorganization procedure.
Public Relations Department
KMG International