March 12 (SeeNews) - Shareholders of Romanian gas transmission company Transgaz [BSE:TGN] said on Tuesday they will not approve the 2018–2027 development plan, as it does not contain enough details on investments and funds availability for the period.
According to the plan, Transgaz would make total investments of 1.9 billion euro ($2.14 billion) during 2018-2027 to expand the gas transmission system.
The shareholders said the plan needs to be supplemented with information regarding investments for the development of the transmission network in Romania, current infrastructure investments and the ones necessary for meeting the commitments to the European Commission, as well as with details on the bearability of the undertaken financial effort, a statement filed by Transgaz to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, showed.
The most important project in the plan is the construction of a natural gas pipeline connecting Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Austria (BRUA), to be carried out in three phases, with a total estimated cost of the first phase estimated at 1.7 billion euro.
"By achieving targets established in the 10-year Development Plan, 2018-2027, Transgaz aims to become a gas transmission operator on the international gas market, with an upgraded, smart national transmission system, integrated at European level , with a modern management system aligned with international performance standards and legislative regulations," the document presented to shareholders reads.
Transgaz's net profit fell 14% on the year to 498.9 million lei ($119 million/105 million euro) in 2018.
In January, the European Investment Bank (EIB) said it is lending a further 138 million euro to Transgaz to finance the construction of a pipeline which will link Romania’s natural gas resources with both the national gas transmission network and the BRUA gas transmission corridor, as well as for the Ungheni-Chisinau interconnection project.
Transgaz shares traded 0.29% lower at 339.5 lei on the Bucharest Stock Exchange as at 1418 CET on Tuesday.
(1 euro=4.7568 lei)