The Romanian Ministry of Energy has turned to the Foreign Direct Investment Review Committee (CEISD) regarding the transaction through which the Hungarian state-owned MVM Group would acquire majority ownership in Romania’s leading energy provider, E.ON Energie Romania, the ministry announced on its website on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Energy
among other things, referring to MVM’s Russian connections, he initiated the investigation introduced to prevent the acquisition of strategic companies outside the European Union.
According to the announcement, MVM Zrt. it maintains extensive trade relations with Russia’s Gazprom and Rosatom, subject to international sanctions, through which Hungary is highly dependent on Russian natural gas and nuclear technology.
According to the Ministry of Energy in Bucharest, on the other hand, the transaction creates the possibility that the shares purchased from E.ON Energie Romania will later be transferred to legal entities outside the European Union and
be indirectly controlled by “economic or political” actors who do not respect the strict European Union regulations in the field of energy and transaction transparency.
The Romanian ministry is also concerned about the data of the E.ON Energie Romania company and the personal data of more than 3 million Romanian customers, saying that – in the absence of contractual guarantees – they can be accessed by other trading partners of the MVM Group, more specifically by Russian entities that the group has a commercial relationship.
“Romania is obliged to protect its sovereignty and strategic interests. We will not allow critical sectors such as the energy sector to become vulnerable, victims of geopolitical or economic games that circumvent the European principles of competition, transparency and the single market”
– the statement quoted Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja.
The head of the ministry promised that he would act decisively to protect Romania’s national security and the energy security of the European Union, which must get rid of its dependence on Russian gas.
The inter-ministerial committee that screens foreign direct investments, in which representatives of the Romanian secret services are “permanent guests”, was established in Romania through the implementation of a European Union directive adopted in 2019. The European Foreign Direct Investment Screening Framework enables EU Member States and the European Commission to cooperate and exchange information on investments from third countries that may affect EU security or public order.
Last December, the MVM Group announced that it would buy a 68 percent stake in E.ON Energie Romania, which serves almost 3.4 million customers. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
MVM buys majority ownership in Romania’s leading energy provider
Source: nepszava.hu
