Burduja asks companies to sue NGOs that file bad faith lawsuits

„What you see in the US is coming to Romania! An American court has ruled: the NGO Greenpeace must pay 660 million dollars for illegally blocking a strategic energy project. 660 million USD! This is not an isolated case. From Neptun Deep (over 4 billion euros investment) to our hydroelectric power plants (1.4 billion lei investment at the Răstoliţa hydroelectric power plant), Romania’s strategic energy projects are systematically attacked in court by environmental NGOs. Are all Romanian investments harmful to the environment? Does an investment completed to a proportion of up to 98% have such a serious impact on the environment through the last two percent remaining to be executed, for decades? Russian gas, when imported into Romania, was not polluting? Was it not toxic? Why didn’t these NGOs protest then? Why didn’t they protest when the two Russian oil tankers with thousands of tons of fuel oil ran aground in the Black Sea, causing a tragedy major for the marine ecosystem?” Sebastian Burduja wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

He argues that Romania must defend itself with all its might and that these court actions are usually not about protecting the environment, but about blocking national development and our energy security: “Harassment tactics, lawsuits filed in bad faith, very well-paid lawyers – all seem to be part of a plan to sabotage our independence.”

The minister publicly calls on all directors of national energy companies to seek maximum damages in court against NGOs that file bad faith actions.

„Each artificial blockage costs Romania money, jobs and energy security. Energy patriotism means deeds, not words! It means moving to offensive measures that will consolidate the production of electricity and thermal energy, after years of delays, hesitations, blockages. Romania needs gas, hydroelectric power plants, coal, renewables, strategic investments. It needs everything”, adds Burduja.

The minister announces that work is underway on a proposal for a regulatory act, for the first time, to unblock and majorly accelerate the projects that have been started, with a high degree of execution: „There are over ten hydroelectric power plants, with a cumulative investment value of almost 12 billion lei, most of which has already been spent by the Romanian state. We are talking about over 700MW, with an execution stage of up to 98%.