​E.ON Romania wants to sell its gas and electricity supply business as part of the German group’s strategy to focus on distribution, HotNews.ro reports. Officially, E.ON does not comment on anything related to possible arrangements with potential buyers of the supplier E.ON Energie, but there is a clear interest on the part of the Romanian state to become its owner again through its companies. HotNews.ro first reported that Romgaz is interested in being supplied by E.ON Romania, but there is another state-owned company that wants to enter the business: Hidroelectrica.

In fact, two state-owned companies, the largest gas producer (Romgaz) and the largest electricity producer (Hidroelectrica), are interested in acquiring one of the largest suppliers in Romania.

How would private business return to the state, even the first major company

E.ON is the former SC Distrigaz Nord SA Targu-Mureș, which emerged in 2000 after the restructuring of Romgaz. The state was a shareholder of this company until the signing of the privatization agreement with E.ON Ruhrgas on October 21, 2004. The actual transfer of shares took place on June 28, 2005.

According to the privatization contract, the price of the acquired stake, representing 30% of the company’s share capital, was 125 million euros, and the increase of the authorized capital was 178 million euros, so that E.ON could hold 51% of the increased share capital. capital. More precisely, it was a privatization of a little more than 300 million euros.

Later, to comply with European unbundling directives, the supply activities were separated from the distribution activities, forming several companies under the umbrella of E.ON Romania, fully controlled by the German E.ON group. The shareholders of the supplier company E.ON Energie Romania are E.ON Romania SA with 68.18% and the Ministry of Energy with 31.82%.

According to HotNews.ro, E.ON wants to sell only part of the supply, i.e. E.ON Energie, and not the distribution part. E.ON Energie recorded a turnover of 13.7 billion lei and a loss of 358.8 million lei in 2022.

The state wants to buy back the privatized, but it is also looking at the profits of Romgaz and Hidroelectrica

Romgaz and Hidroelectrica are two very profitable state-owned companies. Romgaz ended 2023 with a net profit of 2.8 billion lei. Hidroelectrica is even better, with a record net profit in 2023: 6.3 billion lei.

However, the Ministry of Finance requires that these state-owned companies feed the state budget by paying at least 90% of profits in the form of dividends. That is, instead of going to investments, the profits of state-owned companies are directed to plugging budget holes.

Romgaz is trying to save as much as possible for investment, but the chances of success are very small. The company’s management asked shareholders that only 20% of profits be allocated as dividends to avoid over-indebting the company and reducing future profits. HotNews.ro sources say that a purely political decision will be made at the April 25 general meeting regarding the amounts to be distributed to shareholders.

Head of Romgaz: We are investigating the market

Romgaz is studying the market for acquiring assets in the field of gas and electricity supply, Rezvan Popescu, the company’s CEO, told HotNews.ro. He also said that due diligence will be conducted. (This involves a thorough analysis of the financial statements, activities and risks that the proposed companies will present).

Answering the question about the possibility of purchasing supplies from E.ON, Popescu said that “no possibility is excluded.” Popescu says there is currently no deal with E.ON.

Of course, Romgaz wants to gain as much share as possible in the supply sector and significantly increase its customer portfolio, and the way to achieve this goal is currently being analyzed. E.ON’s market share already exceeds 10%, being one of the most important suppliers of both natural gas and electricity.