A Romanian Court rejected the insolvency request filed by coal and power complex CE Hunedoara and deferred the insolvency request submitted by several of its creditors for November 14, local Profit.ro reported.

The court has not released the reasoning behind the ruling, which can be appealed. In the past, the trade unions have barred in court the management’s attempts to initiate insolvency procedures.

The management of CE Hunedoara filed for the insolvency of the company, which posted RON 270 million (EUR 56 mln) losses in the first half of the year and had total debts of RON 1.6 billion (EUR 570 mln) at the end of June. The complex generates some 5% of the country’s electricity. It is a key power producer in the southwestern part of the country and provides system services to the power grid operator Transelectrica.

The company operates the last four coal mines still open in the Jiu Valley and two power units that run on coal, and employs 4,000.

In related news, the Chamber of Deputies endorsed a government emergency ordinance (OUG) that allows strategic companies in the energy sector (like CE Hunedoara) to be taken over by state in exchange for their overdue debts to budget or any public entities. Under such a scenario, CE Hunedoara would de facto undergo a bankruptcy process, and the viable assets (the power and heating generation units) would be taken over by the Ministry of Economy and local administration. The fate of the coal mines is uncertain, though.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Shutterstock)