At the proposal of the ruling coallition, the Romanian Senate has decided to appoint a commision to investigate the privatisation of Petrom, acquired by Austrian OMV in late 2004.At the same time, the draft Emergency Ordinance on transferring the Office for State Shareholding and Privatisation in Industry (OPSPI) from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) to AVAS, including the shares held by the state in Petrom, was not yet approved by the Minister of Justice, Monica Macovei. Monica Macovei has also rejected the controversial plan concerning the acquisition of eight per cent of the Petrom stock by employees. AVAS President Teodor Atanasiu believes that such methods of selling stock to employees at preferential prices should be given up and that it is preferable to keep the free market rules in place. www.petrom.ro