Romanian Government approved, at the proposal of the Ministry of Energy, the Memorandum for the initiation of a state aid scheme to support companies in sectors and subsectors exposed to a significant risk of relocation due to the transfer of the cost of greenhouse gas emissions in the price of electricity in 2021 -2030, according to a ministry statement.
“We are looking for solutions to continue the financial support we have given for the last two years to the big energy consumers. Especially in the current context, I think it is necessary to continue this state aid scheme. Through the memorandum approved today (Thursday, no), The Ministry of Energy has been mandated to negotiate with the European Commission. Through the energy-intensive scheme we want to ensure the necessary conditions for maintaining the competitiveness of Romanian companies in relation to other competitors in Europe and abroad, the endurance of the final industrial consumer of electricity price increases, preventing the negative social effect caused by the restriction of industrial activity. We also want to contribute to maintaining the approximately 200,000 direct and indirect jobs, limiting unemployment and maintaining a highly skilled workforce in the respective industrial sectors,” said Virgil Popescu, Minister of Energy.
The Ministry of Energy is mandated to initiate discussions and carry out prior consultation procedures with representatives of the European Commission – DG Competition, to establish the essential conditions for initiating and authorizing a state aid scheme for companies in sectors considered to be at real risk of relocation due to the significant indirect costs it actually incurs as a result of the transfer of the costs of greenhouse gas emissions to the price of electricity, starting with 2022.
Between 2019 and 2021, a state aid scheme was implemented in Romania to support companies in sectors and sub-sectors exposed to a significant risk of relocation, as a result of the transfer of the cost of greenhouse gas emissions to the price of electricity, according with the provisions of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 81/2019.
The total value of state aid for 2019 was of 399.4 million lei for a number of 34 enterprises, respectively 637.6 million lei, for a number of 33 enterprises in 2020.