The Romanian state lost the lawsuit against the Italian Enel Company at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris for non-observance of the privatization contract of the Electrica Muntenia Sud chapter and has to pay 1.5 million euro in trial-costs, sources with the energy sector told Agerpres on Wednesday.
The Romanian state through the Energy Ownership Management Society (SAPE) had asked compensations from Enel accounting for 834.2 million euro and 378.6 million lei for non-observance of the privatization contract of the said Electrica Muntenia Sud subsidiary. The state has also lost so far the lawsuits against the other two investors who have bought Electrica chapters, the CEZ and the E.ON, respectively.
"The Romanian state has commenced this lawsuit following a control of the Court of Accounts in 2012-2013 that revealed that the investors did not observe their privatization contracts. But, the Court of Accounts did not produce any concrete evidence to support their reports, so that the state lost, one by one, the lawsuits with the companies that have purchased Electrica chapters," the above-mentioned sources explained.
The sentence was given last week and now the SAPE has to pay the 1.5 million euro trial expenses. In Romania, the Italian Enel Company holds three former Electrica subsidiaries of electric power distribution and supply, in the Muntenia Sud area, including Bucharest, in the southwestern area of Banat and the southeastern area of Dobrogea. The Electrica Oltenia chapter was purchased by the Czechs from the CEZ, while the one in Moldova by the Germans with the E.ON.
The SAPE is a company in the Department for Energy's portfolio established in 2014 after the partial split of Electrica ahead of listing it on the stock market. The company is administrating the minority stakes held in the energy distribution and supply that have turned private, including the litigations with the investors that have taken over the former Electrica subsidiaries.