Romania will start the sale process for its remaining package in telecom company Romtelecom, which is majority owned by Greek OTE. This is the third time the state starts the second leg of Romtelecom's privatization, after a first attempt in 2005, and a second in 2008.

The state will first hire a consultant to prepare the sale of 45.99 percent in the landline operator. The main option for the country at this point is to sell the shares via listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, but options might change after a consultant will be hired to maximize the state's profit. The consultant should be either an investment bank or a consortium made of an investment bank and a law firm, which will support the state throughout the privatization, will create all the documents, create the privatization strategy and propose a privatization method. The consultant will be paid from the Government's budget, after the sale process is done, and using the proceedings from the sale. he value of the contract was not yet announced.

Romtelecom saw its revenues down by 9.2 percent in Romania in the first quarter of the year, to some EUR 145.5 million, while its EBITDA profit was also down by 5.7 percent, to some EUR 38.1 million. According to majority shareholder OTE, the drop on the landline telephony segment and a drop in 24 percent from revenues on the interconnection segment caused the decline in revenues.

OTE and the Romanian state are currently in talks over the planned merger of the two companies, Romtelecom and Cosmote, for which joint management is already in place.

editor@romania-insider.com