The government approved a normative act to block the «hostile takeover» of Romanian companies and the possibility of direct acquisition of shares in listed companies in which the state is already a shareholder. Prime Minister Ciolacu: We must defend our identity, values ​​and national interests more forcefully

The government adopted, in the last meeting, an Emergency Ordinance that allows the Romanian state to directly purchase shares of commercial companies, a measure that Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu says will «block the hostile takeover of any company in Romania by foreign companies». The Ministry of Energy holds significant stakes in companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, including Hidroelectrica (80%), Romgaz (70%), Nuclearelectrica (82%), Electrica SA (49.8%), Rompetrol Rafinare (44.7% ), OMV Petrom (20%), Conpet (59%) and Oil Terminal (87.7%). Purchases can now be made directly through the relevant ministry. The draft normative act was in public debate for two months, despite the nature of an emergency ordinance. The approval comes a few days after the Hungarians from MVM announced that they reached an agreement with the Germans from E.ON for the E.ON Romania business. The Prime Minister said today that «we must defend our identity, values ​​and national interests with more force! And the first proof is the ordinance adopted last week by which we block the hostile takeover of any company in Romania by foreign companies, if there are interests contrary to those of the Romanian state». The explanatory note states that «in the last semester, an increase of approximately 10% was observed in hostile takeover attempts of companies of strategic interest whose shares are admitted to trading on regulated exchanges. This situation presents significant risks for the national economic security, under the conditions of a risk of accentuated decapitalization of the equity of the main state companies in the last year, following the negative fluctuations of the capital market, according to their financial audit reports». The Ministry of Energy notes that the increased vulnerability of these strategic entities to hostile takeovers or decapitalization directly threatens the state's control over vital sectors and could lead to an irreversible loss of national influence in key areas for the security and general well-being of society. The adopted project shows that by way of derogation from GEO 88/1997 on the privatization of companies, the relevant ministries can buy shares in the companies in which they exercise, on behalf of the state, the capacity of shareholder. The decision regarding the purchase of shares is approved by order of the competent minister and based on the mandate previously granted by the Government, by Memorandum. In order to carry out the share purchase procedures, the expenses with the law firms, as well as the expenses necessary for the purchase operations, will be borne from the privatization budgets of the relevant ministries.​
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