March 11 (SeeNews) - Romania's government issued an emergency decree granting energy company Complexul Energetic Oltenia (CE Oltenia) 2.66 billion euro ($2.93 billion) in restructuring aid.
"This decree practically saves CE Oltenia from bankruptcy," government spokesman Dan Carbunaru said in a live-streamed press briefing on Thursday evening.
The European Commission approved the state aid scheme for CE Oltenia in January.
The restructuring plan builds on Romania's decarbonisation plans to replace lignite-based electricity production with electricity produced from natural gas and renewables - solar and hydropower.
On February 5 2021, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the restructuring plan submitted by Romania in December 2020 and the related restructuring aid measures to support it were in line with EU state aid rules, more specifically the Commission's guidelines on rescue and restructuring aid. During the in-depth investigation, Romania submitted a revised restructuring plan for the company, for the period 2021-2026, with significant modifications and improvements. The plan will be supported by restructuring aid in the form of grants, a state guarantee for a loan, a capital injection, and a loan-to-grant conversion.
CE Oltenia is a Romanian public undertaking active in mining, power generation and local heat supply. The company is the third largest producer of electricity in Romania.
($= 0.9065 euro)
Complexul Energetic Oltenia SA is among the biggest companies in SEE. You can download our SEE Top 100 ranking
here or subscribe to our free Top 100 newsletter
here