The top public companies in Romania
The Finance Ministry has made public its report on the performance of state-owned companies last year.
Mihai Pelin, 16.10.2015, 14:04
The Romanian Finance Ministry has recently published its 2014 report on the performance of companies controlled by the state. According to the report, the share of the top ten public companies to the overall value of dividends to the state budget has gone up by 2.6% as compared to 2013.
The Oltenia Energy Complex, which currently has a private management, as well as the Hunedoara Energy Complex, are the state-owned companies that reported the biggest losses last year. Both were set up a few years ago by massing several thermal power stations from the Oltenia and Jiu Valley basins with several charcoal and pit coal mines.
The Oltenia Energy Complex, bringing together the largest three thermal power plants in the country – Turceni, Rovinari and Craiova, as well as coalmines belonging to the former Oltenia Charcoal Mining Company, reported losses worth nearly 158 million euros. The company is also facing legal problems, as anti-corruption prosecutors are looking into the activity of the Oltenia Energy complex. Other loss-incurring companies are Tarom, the National Uranium Company and Romaero. According to the document, the list of best-performing companies in 2014 included Hidroelectrica, even though this company has filed for insolvency.
Transgaz, the Romanian Lottery, Nuclear Electrica and Transelectrica, Romsilva, the National Print Company, Bucharest Airport and the Romanian Car Registry Authority are on the list of best-performing companies. Of these, Romgaz is by far the most profitable public company. For more than three years this company has been ranking first in the top ten state-owned companies. In 2014 it reported profits worth 317 million euros.
The company is expected to grow further, after a 30 billion cubic meter natural gas pocket was discovered in the Romanian sector of the Black Sea. Companies currently carrying out drilling operations in the area, including Romgaz, claim exploitation works might take several years to complete and would require investment worth several billions of dollars. These gas deposits might however cover Romanias gas consumption at national level for the next three years, given that every Romanian consumes some 12 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Romania plays an important role on the regional energy market and will consolidate its position as an energy hub for Southeastern and Western Balkans, the European Vice-President for the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovici, has recently said. Upon his last visit to Bucharest, the EU official highlighted Romanias strategic role within the Energy Union and the benefits it might bring by capitalizing on energy and renewable energy sources.
