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PETROPLUS

Petroplus denies fraud allegations

Swiss-based oil refiner Petroplus on Thursday denied French allegations of fraud after prosecutors launched an investigation into the beleaguered firm.

Petroplus denies fraud allegations
Mick Garratt (File)

The company said in a statement that it “refuted all allegations of fraudulent bankruptcy in France” following a probe into funds allegedly missing from the accounts of its French subsidiary.

Petroplus said that at the opening of business on January 23rd, the total balances on bank accounts held by Petroplus Marketing France SAS at Deutsche Bank were €124 million and $59 million.

“During that day Deutsche Bank, one of the lenders under the Revolving Credit Facility (RCF), transferred €122 million and $59 million of this cash that was held on accounts pledged under the RCF out of these accounts,” the firm said.

“No Petroplus legal entity provided any instructions or took any actions to transfer these funds from these French accounts.”

Petroplus said late on Wednesday that several of its subsidiaries in France had filed for judicial assistance.

They include Petroplus Holdings France SAS, Petroplus Marketing France SAS, Petroplus Raffinage Reichstett SAS and Petroplus Raffinage Petit-Couronne SAS, which owns the Petit Couronne refinery in Normandy.

Petroplus, with $1.75 billion (€1.3 billion) in outstanding debt, had been negotiating for weeks with lenders to reopen credit lines needed to maintain operations, said last week it would sell the French plant.

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PETROPLUS

Libyan lifeline for bankrupt French oil plant

Bankruptcy administrators for the Petroplus oil refinery in Normandy have accepted bids from two firms to rescue the plant and have passed them on to a court, union sources said this week.

Libyan lifeline for bankrupt French oil plant
Workers outside the Petroplus oil plant during a day of action last month. Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP

The bids from Panama-registered NetOil and Libya's Murzuq Oil are expected to be considered in the coming days, ahead of an April 16th deadline.

Unions representing the plant's 470 workers hailed the decision.

"This is very good news," said Jean-Luc Broute of the CGT union following a meeting of the plant's works council.

Two other bids, from Hong Kong-based Oceanmed Seasky System Limited and GTSA of Luxembourg, were rejected.

Opened in 1929, the refinery has struggled in recent years, with parent company Petroplus filing for bankruptcy in January 2012 and the plant placed under insolvency administration in October.

The fate of the plant has become a symbol of France's struggle to keep industrial sites running in the face of a stagnant economy and stiff global competition.

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