In a Facebook post published after meeting the leaders of the employees of Alro aluminium producer - who risk losing their jobs as the company cuts production capacity by 60%, Romania's energy minister Virgil Popescu assured that the Government will "secure predictability of the electricity price" over the long term and added that "Alro will have the support of the Government."

No details about specific steps taken were released, except for the minister reminding that the state-owned power generators are required to sell at least 40% of their production outside the spot market (DAM, intra-day), and balancing market "so that there is [enough] energy available for industrial consumers," News.ro reported.

Furthermore, the Government changed at the end of last year the regulations to allow long-term contracts signed within or outside the centralised markets, he reminded.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Ocytav Ganea)