The year 2022 meant a reduction in supply activity and an increase to the limit in supplier bank exposures.
And the problems have not passed: electricity suppliers are still faced with a law that caps the price, but requires Romanians to sign affidavits (declarations about consumption places) that are difficult to manage in the current conditions, according to the officials of the Association of Energy Suppliers (AFEER).
Also, although the speed of settlement has improved, banks remain reluctant to grant new loans or even letters of guarantee, and the new capping law requires trading on OPCOM with guarantees well above the final traded volume.
There are also problems in the regime of double taxation of traders, while the latest provisions were issued without consulting the suppliers, they claim.
Asked by Energynomics how many suppliers entered insolvency or bankruptcy in 2022, Laurențiu Urluescu, president of the Association of Energy Suppliers (AFEER), said:
“I can’t say that they have gone into insolvency or bankruptcy, but most of them have drastically reduced their portfolio and volumes have decreased.”
Also in the trading market, in the months of September, October and November 2022, the electricity market “was dead”, only in December it knew a slight revival.
At the same time, participation in OPCOM auctions will take place with guarantees for maximum periods, before the delivery periods – difficult to obtain from banks, already overexposed to the sector.
“We proposed to cover with guarantees only the volumes traded. There are additional costs that have to be covered from somewhere, and banks no longer offer loans and guarantees.”
Another problem – as it appears from the new law, promulgated today: some consumers will have to give declarations on their own responsibility in the previous month in order to benefit from compensation in the following month, generating a bureaucratic situation that is difficult to manage and centralize.
“We hope that ANRE will clarify this part, regarding the statements”, Urluescu also said.
President Klaus Iohannis promulgated on Tuesday the law approving GEO no. 119/2022, which modifies the electricity and natural gas price ceiling system for end consumers from January 1.
