Upon his retirement from the business he had built over ten years and which turned him into the richest man in Romania, Dinu Patriciu got from the Rompetrol employees a tool. The tool, shaped like a question mark is essential for any refinery, people say. You start a refinery with it and cannot do without it.
However, in the front rows in Petromidia's conference room, where 30 years from the moment when the first installation had been turned on were being celebrated, there were also people in starched suits, wearing ties - the new owners of a business that was considered Romanian and especially regarded as behind held by a Romanian. Unlike the new owners of Petromidia, Patriciu was wearing a comfortable flax suit and had two shirt buttons unbuttoned.
"Alexandru Nicolcioiu (chairman of Rompetrol's Board of Directors) is the father of the refinery, I was the godfather," Patriciu said to a room full of former or current managers of Rompetrol and of many Petromidia employees, after a press conference during which part of the plans of the new sole owners of the Rompetrol group, the Kazakhs at KazMunaiGaz, were unveiled.
This was the first press conference at Rompetrol where Russian was the official language, and the opening speech no longer came from Patriciu, but from the KazMunaiGaz chairman Kabyldin Kairgeldy.
"Good evening dear gentlemen and ladies," the KMG chairman started, reading off some sheets of paper. "On June 24 we completed the deal for 20% in Rompetrol." Some eyebrows were raised. "In December 2007 we had the first repurchasing tranche." Nobody could understand anything any longer. After a few moments of confusion, Patriciu lost his temper and demanded that the female translator who had a strong Russian accent be replaced.
The conference continued. The new CEO of the Rompetrol petroleum group was announced, who did n
