Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company, KazMunayGas, is set to partially divest its European assets, which include KMG International (KMGI, formerly Rompetrol Group) with Romania’s largest refinery, Petromidia (4.8 million tonnes refining capacity), in its portfolio. KazMunayGas plans to sell up to 50% of its European holdings, according to Caliber.az.
KMGI operates in Romania, through Rompetrol Rafinare (BVB: RRC), Petromidia and Vega refineries, a petrochemical complex, terminals, and a filling station network. KMGI sources crude oil both domestically from Kazakhstan and from international suppliers.
KMGI has smaller operations in Switzerland, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Türkiye, and Kazakhstan.
With a market capitalisation of nearly RON 1.9 billion (EUR 380 million), Rompetrol Rafinare reported aggregated losses in excess of RON 1 billion (EUR 200 million) in 2023-2024 after RON 666 million net profit in 2022. Its management attributed the effect of supplementary taxation over the past couple of years.
“For Rompetrol Rafinare, the consequences of the tax regime introduced in December 2022, through surtaxation (solidarity) measures and continued with new turnover taxes (ICAS – the additional tax on oil and gas activity and IMCA – the minimum turnover tax), starting with 2024, are existential,” the Kazakh officials warned according to Business Magazin in early November.
The group’s officials estimate that the additional taxes imposed on companies from 2023 to the present, compared to a normal economic climate, for the KMGI Group, were over USD 215 million (EUR 186 million).
Dutch-registered KMGI, a fully owned subsidiary of KazMunayGas, is expected to be a key component of the sale, which Kazakhstan intends to execute in 2026–2027.
The Agency for Competition Protection and Development in Kazakhstan confirmed that a two-stage open tender will allow private investors to acquire up to a 50% stake in the holding, which oversees refining and retail operations across Europe, Caliber.az reported, citing Kazakh media.
“The transaction is intended to attract a strategic partner,” the asset passport noted.
The Romanian refineries underwent modernisation before similar upgrades at KazMunayGas facilities in Atyrau, Pavlodar, and Shymkent.
Between 2017 and 2021, KMGI’s annual revenue fluctuated between USD 4.8 billion and USD 11.6 billion, reflecting the holding’s significant role in Kazakhstan’s overseas energy portfolio.
This planned divestment is part of KazMunayGas’s broader strategy to attract strategic investment and enhance the operational efficiency of its European operations while maintaining a strong presence in the global energy market.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Facebook/Rompetrol-KMG International)
Leave a Reply