ANRE is investigating 26 energy companies for market manipulation

The National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) is investigating 26 energy companies for market manipulation, and fines will be between 5% and 10% of their turnover, the chairman of ANRE, Dumitru Chirita, said on Wednesday, agerpres reports.

He was audited in the parliamentary inquiry committee regarding energy prices.

"We have 26 economic operators being investigated for market manipulation. What we noticed: operator A sells operator B a quantity of electricity, B sells to A the same quantity at inflated prices. And, through this formula of market manipulation, the price increases," Chirita said.

According to him, until now, fines have been symbolic, but from now on the law will be applied, meaning that fines will be between 5% and 10% of the company's turnover.

"It is quite difficult to investigate in this area, but we have equipment that allows us to clone data and information from the operator's electronic systems. It is equipment from the United States, for which every 6 months I have to sign a statement that I am not using it other than the purpose I acquired it for," the chairman of ANRE added.

He highlighted that all this data is of confidential nature and he will put it at the disposal of the inquiry committee.