The Minister of Energy Toma Petcu announced on Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017, that he urged all energy companies subordinated to the Ministry of Energy – Hidroelectrica, Romgaz, Nuclearelectrica, Conpet and Oil Terminal – to provide for this year a mandatory 20% of their revenues – at least about one billion euros – for investments in modernization.
“We have urged the companies within the Ministry of Energy to provide for this year at least 20% [of their revenues] for investments. We have forced them to provide another billion by drafting their budgets, because the investments are further developing in the economy taxes, and jobs “, said Toma Petcu, in an interview for the Antena 3 TV station.
According to the Minister of Energy, last year, the energy companies, excluding Transgaz and Transelectrica, have paid nearly one billion euros to the state budget, but failed to implement all their budgeted investments.
“Most companies, if you check the investment chapter, are below the level of investment which they set in 2015 for 2016. They did not manage to invest 100% of what they set in the 2016 budget, not to mention the reserves”, said the Minister of Energy.
Asked by journalists about the new appointments to the state energy companies boards of administrators (CA), the minister said that the state must be represented in the CA by the state representatives, because those who are part of the government can best apply the government policies.
“Any ministry can start a legal procedure, with changes from top to bottom. I cannot go further with changes and analysis of the management, given the fact that the Board of Directors is not necessaryle aligned with the policy of the current government. (…) Those who are part of the government are the best to apply the government policies. We have the executive, we have the leadership, we have the directors, which represent the executive. We have to place some administrators to take care of the development plans, of the relationsships with other institutions”, explained Toma Petcu.
Regarding the BRUA project, the Minister of Energy says he wants Romania to become a regional player in the gas market once the “huge amount of gas” coming from the Black Sea will enter into the national gas grid. For this, he asked the gas producer Romgaz to build gas storage facilities along the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria (BRUA) pipeline, the new European gas transit corridor that will connect the countries in the region with the Western Europe.
“I am interested that Romgaz will create additional deposits on this route, for the gas that will come from the Black Sea during the summer, to be bought and stored when the prices are good, even lower prices than for those you produce, (…) and use it or sell it during the winter”, said Petcu.
In the same interview, Toma Petcu also said that more than 1.5 billion lei were allocated to expand the expropriations needed to increase the coal production capacity of the Complex Energie Oltenia (CEO), in Jilţu de Sud. “We have allocated 1.5 billion lei for CEO for these expropriations, an important sum from Romania’s budget. We worked on a Governement Decision for these expropriations at Jilţu de Sud and Roşia, which would be a very important capacity increase for CE Oltenia.”