Romanian Government To Notify Prosecutor’s Office In Sterling Probe

The report concluded that three former heads of Romania's Mineral Resources Agency, an ex-head of the Government's General Secretary and a former secretary of state with the Finance Ministry.

 

"The checkups revealed that changes have been brought to the initial contract by appendices signed by the Mineral Resources Agency ANRM, through president Mihail Ianas (appendix 1-7), president Maria Iuliana Stratulat (appendix  8-10) and president Bogdan Gabudeanu (appendix 11), regarding the extending of the contract’s duration, without verifying the meeting of the undertaken obligations, to avoid the annulment and the launch of other bids. The checkups also showed changes of the contract partners and the failing to meet the law in force regarding the assigning of contracts and the adopting of normative acts by Tariceanu government," official sources told MEDIAFAX, quoting the government’s report.

 

According to the sources, appendix 11 of the contract, which grants Sterling the right of oil exploitation, besides that of drilling, was signed by the Canadian company and ANRM one year and three months before being sent to government for approval.

 

Ianas was ANRM head between 1996-2000, followed by Maria Stratulat, by 2005. Bogdan Gabudeanu served as president of the agency between 2006 and 2009.

 

Also, the report indicates as responsible for the extension of the contract two other pesrons, besides the three former ANRM heads, namely a former head of the Government's General Secretary, Gabriel Berca, and Catalin Doica, ex-secretary of state with the Finance Ministry.

 

The report conclusions show that the agreement with Sterling was a Production Sharing Agreement, according to which state hires an investor to execute certain works for the state, at the contractor’s risk and expenditure.

 

The drilling term was successively extended as it could have been annulled at deadline unless a commercial discovery intervened by the deadline.

 

"The initial contract only referred to crude oil, and the potential discovery of unassociated gas would have triggered separate negotiations. Subsequently, the gas is also included in the contract," according to the sources.

 

According to the contract, oil production was split between Romanian oil company Rompetrol (45%) and the beneficiary (55%), and in case of discovering unassociated natural gas, the parties should have had talks on their development, processing, transport, use, or sale, the distribution of the production, fiscal terms and other terms.

 

The contract’s appendices, except for appendix 11, were declassified.

 

"The duration of the oil agreement and the initial period drilling period are higher than those stipulated in the initial contract, while appendix 11 modified the nature of the initial contract, from Production Sharing Agreement into lease contract," the official sources stated.

 

The report also shows that the production split was different in the initial contract signed in 1992, in appendix 1 and in the oil agreement, leading to a different economic impact of the production results between Rompetrol/ANRM/state budget, on one hand, and the beneficiary/Sterling, on the other hand.

 

The International Court of Justice at The Hague drew a new maritime border between Romania and Ukraine, settling a decade-old dispute. The ruling gives Romania 9,700 square kilometers of exclusive economic zone, accounting for 79.34% of the 12,000 sq km disputed surface.

 

The court’s decision triggered discussions on the exploitation of the hydrocarbon deposits, with focus on the decision of the former Government referring to the lease of certain blocks in the Black Sea to Sterling Resources company.