Privatisation of Romanian power distributor completed

April 30, 2005

Two branches of Romanian electricity distributor Electrica SA were privatised on Thursday, after Italian power producer Enel bought 51% of the shares in the Electrica Banat and Electrica Dobrogea branches of the previously fully-state-owned company. The transaction had a value of 112 million euro, which included the acquisition of stocks and the increase in social capital of the two branches.

The privatisation ceremony was attended by Codruţ Sereş, the Romanian Minister of Economy and Commerce, as well as Claudio Scazola, the Italian Minister for Productive Activities, alongside Pierro Gnudi, the President of Enel.

Electrica Banat and Electrica Dobrogea supply the Romanian regions of Banat and Dobrogea, which are situated in southwestern Romania, and southeastern Romania, respectively. The two branches account for 19% of Romania's total power supply. After the Enel takeover, Electrica SA, which is state-owned, will still own 49% of the stocks in the company.

The Electrica Banat and Dobrogea privatisation is the latest in a series of recent privatisations by the Romanian government. The new Romanian government, sworn in on December 2004 and headed by Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, is particularly keen on free-market reforms and a faster pace of privatisation.