Romanian minister on E.ON deal: Hungarian MVM's relations with Russian Federation are obvious

The relations of Hungary's state-owned energy group MVM with the Russian Federation are obvious, and the potential buyer of utility company E.ON Romania reserved its right, under the contract sealed with the German group, to pass the subject of the takeover to third parties out of the European Union - minister of energy Sebastian Burduja said, commenting on the controversial deal involving major regional energy supplier operated by E.ON in Romania.

The Ministry of Energy has already notified the Foreign Direct Investment Review Commission (CEISD) regarding the transaction by which the Hungarian state-owned company MVM Group intends to acquire the gas and electricity supply division of E.ON Energie Romania, announcing that, following a rigorous analysis, it has identified links with Russia.

The members of the CEISD, which operates under the supervision of the government, are not publicly known, according to Profit.ro.

In a show on Digi24, asked why he publicly opposed an announcement by Hungarian company MVM to take over E-ON, Burduja stated that he raised several questions regarding this possible transaction.

"First of all, the MVM company's ties with the Russian Federation are evident from open data. It buys, for example, gas from Gazprom, and it has ties in the nuclear area with the Russian Federation. The value of the transaction was reported at over EUR 200 million when a supply company twice as small in Romania last year was sold for EUR 15 million. Also, in the contract between MVM and E-ON Furnizare, the Hungarian company reserved the right to sell the shares it takes over to third-party entities, including those outside the European Union," explained Sebastian Burduja.

(Photo source: Facebook/Sebastian Burduja)