Government announces Romanian miners return to work

Miners from seven out of the ten mines operated by coal and power producer CE Oltenia (CEO) in South-Western Romania returned to work after reaching an agreement over their compensation packages, and negotiations are under way for the rest of the mines, the Ministry of Energy informed, according to local Hotnews.ro. Notably, energy minister Anton Anton promised to take steps toward waiving the 2% turnover tax for the coal-fired power plants. This would be a first amendment to the emergency ordinance 114/2018, seen by many as having disruptive effects on the country’s economy. The company’s management reportedly increased its offer to a wage hike in amount of RON 1,000 (EUR 214), in gross terms, after the miners rejected the RON 700 (EUR 150) increase proposed the day before. The wage hikes will be of greater magnitude for low wages. The management also promised not to initiate any legal proceedings against the miners, despite the strike continuing after it was declared illegal in court. The power delivered by CEO has reportedly not decreased dramatically despite the management having to close down some of the power generation units where the stock of coal was depleted. Coal miners’ strike pushes up electricity price in Romania, costs company millions editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Facebook / Complexul Energetic Oltenia)