Investment fund SIF Oltenia has sold a package of shares in OMV Petrom for just under EUR 2.1 million (RON 9.4 million). The average price per share in the Austrian owned Romanian oil and gas company was RON 0.395, or just under 9 euro-cents a share, according to business news service Bloomberg.

The move comes soon after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) sold a share package in OMV Petrom. At the end of November, the EBRD sold approximately 10 times as many shares for around EUR 20.1 million. The shares went for the same price – RON 0.395 per share.

There are five SIF investment funds in Romania – SIF Muntenia, SIF Moldova, SIF Oltenia, SIF Banat Crisana and SIF Transilvania, all listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE). The BET-FI index on the BSE is calculated based on the evolution of these companies' shares, plus Fondul Proprietatea's shares.

The SIFs were created in the 90s, when the national privatization process started. Initially called Fondurile Proprietatii Private (Funds of Private Property), they received 25 percent of the country's wealth under management- meaning share packages in various companies. A second mass privatization program followed, allowing individuals to submit coupons received from the state to one of these companies, later called SIFs. Around 9 million Romanians then became shareholders in SIFs. A 1 percent ownership threshold was imposed due to fears that some of the shareholders might try to gain the control over these companies.

editor@romania-insider.com

photo source: agerpres