PSD parliamentarians from Hunedoara County requested on Tuesday that Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and the Ministers of Finance, Economy and Energy declassify the privatization contract of the former steel plant in Hunedoara, which in 2003 became the property of the current company ArcelorMittal, as well as to have the State Assets Sale Authority (AVAS) verify how the provisions of the contract were respected, inform Agerpres.
In an open letter, deputies Natalia Intotero and Ilie Toma, together with senator Cristian Resmerita, demand that the value of state aid received by ArcelorMittal since privatization and up to the present, broken down by year, be communicated, and that the monitoring reports of the privatization of the steel plant in Hunedoara be made available.
In the cited document, the PSD Hunedoara parliamentarians say that the definitive halt of production at the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Hunedoara determines an "extremely serious" situation, given that it is of "national strategic importance", being the only one in the country that produces metallurgical profiles used in civil and industrial constructions.
"ArcelorMittal announced, on September 12, 2025, the definitive cessation of the activity of the factory in Hunedoara municipality. In recent weeks, several discussions have taken place between ArcelorMittal, on the one hand, and local and county authorities, on the other hand, about the situation of the plant. Given that one of the problems reported was the high price of energy, a solution was identified together with the Ministry of Energy to reduce the price from approximately 128 euros/MWh to approximately 100-110 euros/MWh - applicable to all steel companies for the period 2025-2026. In addition, the plant management received recommendations for managerial policies aimed at optimizing production in relation to energy consumption and its price, discussed with the ministry's specialists. However, just a few days after these discussions, the management of ArcelorMittal Hunedoara decided, without consulting the authorities, to permanently close production for an unlimited period," the open letter reads.
The PSD parliamentarians also point out that, in the last seven years, "ArcelorMittal has benefited from substantial aid from the Romanian state, including approximately 300 million lei in the latter part of 2024, without this support being followed by a plan to relaunch the activity".
"We also ask you to analyze the possibility of the Romanian state buying back the Hunedoara steel plant, as well as the scenario of involving third-party investors interested in buying the plant, re-launching production and maintaining jobs. Regardless of the solution found, we insist that the central authorities ensure that the equipment will not be relocated to other countries, but will be subjected to a careful conservation process until the plant is taken over by the state / another private company," the open letter states.
ArcelorMittal management announced on September 12 that it had decided to permanently stop production at its factory in Hunedoara, which produces profiles and angles for the energy, construction and infrastructure markets, citing very high electricity prices and competition from products coming from outside the EU.
Production at ArcelorMittal Hunedoara, which currently employs 477 people, ceased as of September 5, with employees being furloughed.
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