Businessmen Ioan and Viorel Micula, owners of European Drinks Group have levied distraint upon some Petrom shares held by the Romanian state, according to government sources. It is about shares worthing at least RON 300 million (about EUR 66.9 million), money that Romanian State must pay to the two investors, according to a decision of the Court of Arbitration in Washington.
The solution of the arbitration tribunal rendered in December 2013 was targeting a trial started in 2005 by Micula entrepreneurs who charged the Romanian State with not fulfilling its commitments on mutual protection of investments included in the bilateral Agreement between Sweden and Romania. European Drinks owners, who have also Swedish nationality, won in Washington over RON 360 million (EUR about 82 million).
“So far the state has been playing hide-and-seek with us. We have a decision of the most important international forum in the field of commercial law. About Petrom I can not give you any information. It depends on what will happen,” Viorel Micula said for economica.net.
Against this forced execution act, as well as against all acts of execution drafted in the same enforcement file, the Ministry of Finance makes an appeal to national execution before the courts, the institution said in a statement.
The distraint upon Petrom shares was cancelled because they are owned by the state through the Department of Energy, no through Ministry of Finance. Instead, Ministry of Finance accounts were blocked, according to sources close to the situation.
Premier Victor Ponta reaction was short. He hopes the Romanian courts to “correctly” enforce the law in Petrom shares case.