The INA oil and gas company and the Prvo Plinarsko Društvo (PPD) gas company have successfully closed a transaction with the Turkish Yildirim Group regarding the sale of their shares in the Terra Mineralna Gnojiva mineral fertiliser company, the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) said on Friday.

“INA and PPD successfully closed the previously announced transaction with the Turkish YILDIRIM Group regarding the sale of their shares in Terra Mineralna Gnojiva d.o.o. Following fulfillment of all preconditions from the sales contract, the sale of shares in Terra Mineralna Gnojiva d.o.o. company, a joint venture company owned by PPD and INA which holds a 54.52% stake in Petrokemija, to the Turkish YILDIRIM Group, has been successfully completed,” reads a press release which INA published on the ZSE.

Last November, Yildirim signed a contract with INA and PPD on the acquisition of Terra Mineralna Gnojiva (TMG) and their majority share in Petrokemija.

The Kutina-based Petrokemija is co-owned by the state-owned Restructuring and Sale Centre (CERP), which holds a 17.9% stake, HPB/Fund for the decommissioning of the Krško nuclear power plant (12.73%), oil pipeline operator JANAF (9.09%), Privredna Banka Zagreb (5.45%), and Petrokemija (0.08%), while the remaining shares are held by small shareholders.

With today’s transaction, TMG has left the ownership and management structure of Petrokemija, reads the statement issued by INA and PPD.

TMG had acquired the 54.52% stake in Petrokemija in late 2018, when that leading Croatian producer of artificial fertilisers had losses of HRK 474 million, and when the state was its sole owner.

During recapitalisation, the state covered the debt in the amount of HRK 450 million to prevent the company from going bankrupt.

At the same time, INA and PPD paid HRK 300 million for their stake and took over the management of Petrokemija.

Over the last four and a half years, Petrokemija covered its overdue liabilities to HEP in the amount of HRK 330 million and to other suppliers in the amount of HRK 170 million and it also paid overdue fees for CO2 emissions in the amount of HRK 230 million.

Furthermore, HRK 50 million was paid for severance packages.

In 2020 and in 2021, Petrokemija registered record-high profits, and from 2019 to 2022, investments in the factory reached HRK 293 million.

During 2022, prices of gas, which is the basic raw material for the production of artificial fertilisers, soared to record highs. Weathering those difficulties, Petrokemija operated at a profit, reads the press statement.

PPD Management Board chairman Pavao Vujnovac was quoted as saying that they are happy to see that in 2018 they were part of solution for Petrokemija.

However, producing artificial fertilsiers is not the core business of the PPD company and therefore it decided to leave Petrokemija, Vujnovac said.

Odobas: We plan significant investments

The new chairman of Petrokemija’s Management Board is Ali Odabaş, who today told the press that they were happy to be in Croatia and that a lot of time was needed to complete the transaction.

We plan to make significant investments in Petrokemija, said Odobas, expressing hope that the production in the Kutina factory would restart in two to three months.

“As of today, 28 April 2023, Yildirim Group is the new majority owner of Petrokemija Plc, after taking over the majority stake from the former company owner Terra Mineralna Gnojiva d.o.o. The changes in the ownership structure have resulted in the changes in the Management Board of the company,” Petrokemija said on its website.

All current members of the Management Board are leaving the company as of today, and the Supervisory Board of Petrokemija Plc has appointed a new Management Board, with a 5-year term commencing tomorrow, 29 April 2023. The new President of the Management Board is Ali Odabas, and the new Management Board Members are Faruk Özkısa, Erman Akman and Nenad Zecevic.

N1 pratite putem aplikacija za Android | iPhone/iPad i društvenih mreža Twitter | Facebook | Instagram.