The Romanian government will sell 26.69% of the shares it owns in Rompetrol Rafinare for 200 million dollars to The Rompetrol Group (TRG), controlled by KazMunayGaz (KMG). Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced yesterday: "Essentially, we are selling some of the shares of the state for 200 million dollars - meaning we would make more than if we sold those shares on the stock market - and what's more, KazMunayGaz, with the involvement of the Romanian government, will have an investment fund of one billion dollars, in the near future".

What Victor Ponta is saying is true, except... it isn't: KMG won't be bringing one billion dollars to Romania, that amount may be at most 750 million dollars, provided it obtains some foreign investments.

In fact, according to the memorandum signed in February 2013 by the OPSPI and TRG, the Kazakhs will only bring 150 million dollars into the investment fund, of which 30 million represent the stake of the Romanian state, which they will pay for.

The government will hold a 20% stake in that fund, which will finance the energy projects of KMG, if the Kazakh group will deem them opportune for the next seven years.

According to the memorandum, "the fund will attract additional investments from third parties for financing the selected projects, based on a maximum debt to equity ratio of 4:1".

In other words, the fund could raise, aside from the over 150 million dollars it will bring in, more money, through loans, as it is helped by its partnership with the Romanian government - which is a good guarantor to third parties.

Art 3.1 of the memorandum stipulates: "Any profit distribution (ed. note: by the fund) will only be made in favor of TRG until the time that TRG will have recouped 100% of its capital investment (150 million dollars)".

From that point on, the profit will be distributed proportionally