Hidroelectrica is the successful model through which we can transform Romanian companies from black holes into profitable entities for Romanians, because the company’s evolution demonstrates what happens when state representatives can no longer hide the mess under the rug, considers Deputy Prime Minister Oana Gheorghiu.

“Hidroelectrica is the successful model through which we can transform Romanian companies from black holes into profitable entities for Romanians. Because the evolution of Hidroelectrica demonstrates what happens when state representatives can no longer hide the mess under the rug. Privatizing small percentages of shares brings incredibly great benefits for Romania and for Romanians because it brings the company out of bankruptcy and generates profit, transparency and good governance. When someone says that “we are selling our country” when talking about Hidroelectrica, it means that they either have no idea what they are talking about, or they are simply a scoundrel. No, no one is selling the country, but we are introducing mechanisms to ensure that state assets are no longer plundered by smart guys sent by the party. Because these companies are the companies of Romanians and Romania, not the party’s companies,” she wrote on her Facebook page, according to Agerpres.

In a post published on Friday, Gheorghiu shows how Hidroelectrica’s financial situation evolved before and after its listing on the stock exchange.

Thus, the company that, in 2011, posted a profit of 6.4 million lei, in the following year, 2012, is insolvent, with a loss of 508 million lei and debts of 4.33 billion lei.

“The largest energy company in Romania put on the back burner through contracts with private intermediaries who were extracting value from the company with the complicity and aided by the incompetence of the state. The assets were exceptional. Governance? Non-existent. The assets were ours, the citizens’, but the money was going elsewhere,” the quoted source emphasized.

After the stock exchange listing in July 2023, the state did not sell any of its stake, while Fondul Proprietatea, a private shareholder, sold its 20 percent. The Romanian state still owns 80% of Hidroelectrica, but the difference is that now the company can no longer hide anything, says Oana Gheorghiu.

According to her, the company’s listing meant public financial reporting every quarter, important contracts approved by shareholders, and a management that is accountable to tens of thousands of people and the Financial Supervisory Authority.

Under these conditions, Hidroelectrica made a profit of 6.4 billion lei in 2023.

“That is, from millions, to billions and 1,000 times more for Romania. We are talking about the same assets, but a completely different governance. Dividends received by the Romanian state: 2022 (pre-listing): 3.06 billion lei; 2024 (post-listing): 5.03 billion lei. In a single year, from a single company, the public budget received the equivalent of over 1 billion euros. And yet, what do Romanians gain? All employees with Pillar II private pensions are already de facto shareholders of Hidroelectrica. Pension funds together own 11% of the company. Approximately 8 million Romanians benefit directly, every year, from Hidroelectrica dividends – through their pensions. If you bought shares upon listing, you have +30% in less than 3 years, plus annual dividends of 6-8%. If you have neither private pension nor shares, then the billions of dividends that the state receives every year finances hospitals, schools and state pensions”, the deputy prime minister also showed.

Hidroelectrica announced on Thursday that its market value reached 72.4 billion lei, at the opening of the trading session of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

The company has consolidated its position as the largest producer of electricity in Romania, 100% green energy, with a share of about 27% over the last five years, and has become, in less than four years, the largest electricity supplier in Romania.

As of December 31, 2025, the company had a market share of 17.4% in the total market, respectively 18.6% in the competitive segment.

The company manages a portfolio of 188 hydropower plants, with an installed capacity of over 6.3 GW, as well as the Crucea Nord wind farm, with an installed capacity of 108 MW, where a storage battery, with a nominal power of 36 MW and a storage capacity of 72 MWh, will be put into operation in May – June 2026.