E.ON Romania wins market manipulation case against market regulator ANRE

The natural gas and electricity supply company E.ON Energie Romania, controlled by the German group of the same name, won a case at the Constitutional Court (CCR) after being fined by the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) in 2020 on natural gas market manipulation allegations related to transactions carried out in 2018, Profit.ro reported.

Following a 2019 investigation, ANRE concluded that, in the fall of 2018, E.ON Gaz Furnizare allegedly "conspired" with its sister company E.ON Energie Romania to "simulate" a free transaction for the wholesale purchase of gas from it at an auction held on the Romanian Commodity Exchange (BRM).

ANRE claimed that, instead of concluding a direct bilateral contract, E.ON Gaz Furnizare and E.ON Energie had agreed to conclude the transaction following the organization of a "fictitious" auction.

E.ON Gaz Furnizare argued that the auction at BRM was "genuine" and complied with all regulations in force, with a third player from outside the E.ON group participating with a bid, that ANRE failed in any way to prove the contrary, and that the resulting price, of RON 108 per MWh, was within the average of transactions at BRM during that period.

(Photo source: Facebook/E.ON)