The Rompetrol Group was granted a new syndicated loan totaling USD 85 million

A bank consortium including Bank Austria Creditanstalt, HVB Bank Romania and Banca Comercială Română (BCR) granted over a 1 year, USD 85 million loan facility to Rompetrol Group member company Rompetrol Rafinare S.A.( the operator of the Group’s Petromidia refinery). It is the 6th facility contracted by  Rompetrol, to finance Petromidia’s required working capital. The loan was granted on international market terms, and this time involved BCR, One of the largest Romanian banks.

The amount will be used for financing crude imports, thus leading to best use of Petromidia’s production capacity and to improved oil acquisition planning, with immediate impact expected upon the company’s revenue. Said facility is proof of the trust financial institutions in Romania and abroad have in the Romanian private company which is the biggest contributor to the State budget.

TRG, Romania’s foremost private oil operator, supplies entirely EU-compliant products on the domestic market via a 200-strong retail station network (including both company-owned locations and distributors). Rompetrol carries out operations both in Romania and neighboring countries, and it’s presence on the markets of Bulgaria, Turkey and Moldova is now growing rapidly. Last year, group turnover totaled USD 1.2 billion, of which about 80% achieved by Rompetrol Rafinare. TRG’s aggregate contribution to the State budget reached 4.2% in 2003.

Bank Austria Creditanstalt is the Central and East European subsidiary of German group HVB, a leading European banking institution. Within HVB Group, Bank Austria Creditanstalt is responsible with the CE Europe area and coordinates 900+ branches in 11 countries. In Romania, the HVB group is represented by HVB Bank Romania, which serves more than 18,000 clients via branch offices located in Bucharest, Timişoara, Oradea, Cluj, Braşov, Constanţa and Sibiu.

BCR, Romania’s leading financial group, provides banking services both at home and abroad, and has a market share of 30% and assets of USD 5.5 billion. Via specialized units, BCR is operating on the capital, leasing, insurance, and investment funds markets. By the end of 2003, BCR was holding 33% of the deposits belonging to the population and companies, and 28% of the loans granted by the entire banking system in Romania.