The Chinese company CEFC, who signed in April an agreement to take over KMGI (former Rompetrol Group) of KazMunayGas, expanded a few months the time limit for completion of the transaction, initially set for October this year, said Vice-President Rompetrol, Azamat Zhangulov, quoted by Agerpres.
“The takeover by CEFC was not done yet,” he said. Asked what this means, he replied: “It means exactly what it means. There is no decision yet.”
He siad that the deadline was extended in the context of the discussions Rompetrol is having with the Romanian state.
“The deadline with CEFC was extended, in the context of the new discussions we need to have with the government. The agreement with this investor will go on, but it will take another few months more, probably, to finalize the new terms of the agreement,” said Zhangulov.
The deadline for taking over Rompetrol by CEFC was October this year, he said.
In regard with the intention of KMGI to call the State in the Court of International Arbitration, based on investment protection treaties, Rompetrol official claimed that, until now, there has been no discussion with state representatives.
“Now we are in the period of reconciliation. We expect the government to come to negotiations. We expect talks with the negotiation committee to begin soon. We have not had no discussions, we were not invited by the Government. There is a procedure which requires a committee should be made to address the company, but it takes time for the Government. we understand that this can not be done immediately. After we sent the letter, we had no discussion with the authorities,” said Zhangulov.
He also revealed that has not yet received a request from the Ministry of Energy to extend the memorandum signed in 2013 with the Romanian government, which expires later this year.
“The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in February 2013 and untill now it has been extended for 13 times. The last extension happened in October 2015. We believe we gave the Government enough time to execute the actions that were planned so far. We have not received any official request for another extension, but as soon as we would receive it, we will analyze it. We still hope that all the actions will be executed in the terms agreed. I understand that a request will come and as soon as it comes, we will discuss it with the Government and then we will make public the decision, “said KMGI Vice-President.
A week ago, the Energy Minister Victor Grigorescu said the Government could extend the memorandum signed with Rompetrol on the establishment of an jointly investment fund worth a billion dollar. The agreement expires at the end of this year, but the Government also examines other solutions.