The Ministry of Energy currently has 131 million RON to settle of energy price compensation, and the budget allocation for this is not 2.5 billion RON, but around 5 billions of RON, because there are amounts that also go to the Ministry of Labour, said Minister of Finance Adrian Caciu, on Thursday, in the press conference organized after the Government meeting in which this year's first budget revision was approved.
"The commitment appropriations requested by the Ministry of Energy were 2.5 billion RON. There were a number of errors in the information received from ANRE [the National Energy Regulatory Authority], but we reconciled these results. We entered a normalcy and we have this Interministerial Committee, so those who are involved should come up with accurate data and discuss concretely on the figures and not spread all kinds of opinions, differences in figures in the public space and create a certain panic in society. Just a week ago, the Minister of Energy said that he confirms none of those figures, neither 40, nor 20, nor 31 [billion RON ed.n.]. The reality is as follows: the Ministry of Energy currently has 131 million RON to settle .. It's not billions, it's not tens of billions. We are talking about settlements in August, related to April. We must look step by step, as is done with the budget execution, and it must be anchored in reality. Budget appropriations cannot exceed commitment appropriations. Commitment appropriations t requested by the Ministry of Energy were 2.5 billion lei, that's why I allocated 2.5 billion lei. The allocation for energy is not only 2.5 billion RON, but around 5 billion RON, because there are also amounts allocated to the Ministry of Labour. As you know, the Ministry of Labour offsets or pays the settlements for household consumers, and the Ministry of Energy for economic ones,", explained the Finance minister.
Recently, the Federation of Associations of Energy Utility Companies (ACUE) drew attention to the fact that the budget revision is below 25 pct of what is needed to finance the energy ceiling and exposes the ability of the entire energy sector to function at a major risk.
ACUE representatives emphasize that the amount of 2.5 billion RON foreseen for the Ministry of Energy represents only 7.7 pct of the financing requirement estimated by the ministry (31 billion RON) to cover the commitments assumed by the Government only through Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 27/2022, until the end of 2022, respectively the payment of the differences between the real price of non-household consumer bills and the capped energy price, Agerpres.
At the same time, the amount of 7.3 billion RON foreseen for the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection for the entire chapter of "Social Assistance" is far below the funding requirement estimated by the ACUE Federation at the request of the authorities (of 8.4 billion RON) to cover the commitments undertaken by Government by OUG 27/2022, until the end of 2022.
"The money is not for the suppliers, but for the energy consumers. The suppliers grant this support for customers in advance, from their own funds. So, directly and immediately, this decision risks generating a blockage at the level of the supply activity, but the subsequent impact will be felt at the level of the entire energy sector and, in the last instance, at the end customers," said Daniela Daraban, the executive director of ACUE.
ACUE has 22 members, including important groups in the field of electricity and natural gas, with a total number of 24,000 employees and an annual turnover of over 5.5 billion euros. ACUE members represent 56.4 pct of the entire electricity utility market and, respectively, 89.9 pct of the total gas market.
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