Romania To Notify EC In July On Reorganizing Energy Sector - Econ Min

Romania will notify the European Commission at the end of July about its plans to reorganize the country’s energy sector, Economy Minister Adriean Videanu said Tuesday.

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The power sector restructuring will be publicly debated between June 15 and July 15, and the Commission will be afterwards officially notified about the plan.

"Some changes may appear after the public debate. The reorganization will become a fact by the end of the year. We will not include companies with debts in the two national power holdings (that the authorities plan to set up – e.n.)," Videanu said in a press conference organized together with the European Commissioner for Energy, Andris Piebalgs.

Piebalgs participates in a forum on energy efficiency and renewable power sources organized in Romania’s capital city Bucharest.

He said Romania must reorganize its power sector, anticipating no problems in reaching this objective.

The Government’s plan to reorganize Romania’s energy sector aims at creating two national power holdings including several assets within the energy sector. The Government has previously announced the possibility to include power grid Electrica in the two holdings.

"As regards including Electrica in these holdings, there is no need to notify the EC, although it is better to do it in order to avoid further problems," Piebalgs said.

The two officials talked Tuesday about reorganizing Romania’s power sector, the gas pipeline projects Nabucco and South Stream, and the possibility that the headquarters of the European energy watchdog might be set up in the capital city Bucharest.

Nabucco, linking Turkey to Central Europe via Romania, aims to supply natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Central Europe via Turkey and Romania, bypassing Russia. The project is sustained by the European Union and the USA.

Nabucco partners are Austria's OMV, Hungary's MOL, Romania's Transgaz (TGN.RO), Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, Turkey's Botas and Germany's RWE.

South Stream is developed by Russia’s Gazprom and Italy’s ENI, aiming to deliver Russian natural gas towards Europe, bypassing Ukraine.

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