E.ON Romania Wants Higher Gas Prices As Of April

"This would be hard to accomplish, but the figures are grounded. It is less likely that gas prices will 2009," Hajdinjak said. Hence, it is too soon to say what the price hike quota is, he added.

The effects of the drop in oil prices were practically annulled by the depreciation of the Romanian leu against the US dollar. Also, Hajdinjak said E.ON Romania registered 60 million lei (EUR1=RON4.2954) worth of losses in the gas distribution sector in 2008, because the Romanian Energy Watchdog ANRE didn’t recognize the purchase costs of import gas.

Hajdinjak added import gas prices will settle at less than $300 per 1,000 cubic meters in the third quarter of 2009, compared with $550 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2008, on lower international oil prices.

ANRE hiked natural gas prices two times in 2008, namely by 12.5% on July 1, and by 8.5% February 2.

E.ON Romania does not envisage any layoffs following the merger of its electricity and gas operations January 1. Also, the company does not see any salary decrease for its employees.

E.ON Distributie Gaze, namely E.ON Romania’s gas distribution unit, started a voluntary layoffs program in 2008 and around 1,500 employees left the company.

E.ON Romania is currently evaluating the gas crisis impact following the conflict between Russia and Ukraine earlier this year.

"After having an evaluation of the impact, we will start talks with our partners and we could hopefully find a solution favoring all parties, " Hajdinjak said.