KPMG Romania To Draft Fondul Proprietatea’s IAS Financial Statements

Fondul Proprietatea received by the deadline, September 4, two bids from KPMG Romania and BDO Conti Audit.

Fondul Proprietatea selected late August lender Bancpost to provide storage and custody services for its assets, while insurance broker AON Romania will provide civil legal liability insurance services for managers.

Fondul Proprietatea received by August 27 letters of intent from companies interested in becoming the fund’s manager, ahead of listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

In May, the fund’s general manager Daniela Lulache said the company that will manage Fondul Proprietatea ahead of its bourse listing would be selected in November this year, while the listing will be carried out in the first part of 2009.

In May, Fondul Proprietatea designated UK’s Schroders Investment Management as its financial adviser, which will provide counseling in structural and corporate governing issues.

Romania, through the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is the majority shareholder in Fondul Proprietatea.

The fund, which was set up in December 2005 to compensate Romanians for the non-return of confiscated property, has the majority of its shares in state hands, while a 20% stake is  distributed to the persons whose properties were illegally confiscated during the communist era.

The fund has a capital estimated at around EUR4 billion, with stakes in large energy companies like Petrom SA (SNP.RO), where it owns 20.22%.

Fondul Proprietatea reported a net profit of 313.1 million lei (EUR1=RON3.6123) last year, fourfold higher compared with 2006, and revenues worth over RON410 million.

The fund reported a net profit of RON319 million in the first half of the year, 2% higher compared with RON313 million in the same period a year earlier.