Two major transactions took place in the recent past in the oil business: 75% of Rompetrol was sold by Dinu Patriciu to the Kazach company KazMunaiGaz and Petrom (owned by OMV) bought the oil services company Petromservice, formerly owned by the controversial Sorin Ovidiu Vantu.

Analysts say that the sellers will make serious investments in their media groups.

The Petrom - Petromservice transaction was preceded by many rumors but, each time, officials from both companies denied it.

The shareholders structure at Petromservice was never clear. Formally, the company was run by union leader Liviu Luca. Unofficially, the string were pulled by the controversial Sorin Ovidiu Vintu.

Vantu declared for Hotnews.ro that he had nothing to do with the offshore that holds shares at Petromservice. But, then again, he said the same thing about the Realitatea TV station, and then came out and accepted he owns it.

Dinu Patriciu said about the over 2 billion euros he earned from the sale of a 75% stock at Petromidia that most of it would return to Romania as investments. He may invest, at this time, in regional development, real estate and media.

According to media analyst Iulian Comanescu, „Dinu Patriciu recently invested over 10 million dollars in his media headquarters, while Realitatea TV announced an investment of 6 million euros in technical gear. We can speculate that the money spent this year is enough, but the intentions of the two businessmen are still foggy".

Sources at Realitatea TV say that some of the money from the sale of Petromservice would be used to cover the losses in the 2006 financial year.