Paris Arbitrage Court admits Romanian state’s EUR 521 mln case against Italy's Enel

The company that manages Romania’s holdings in the energy sector, SAPE, recently filed a case against Italian group Enel in the International Arbitrage Court in Paris, asking for EUR 521.6 million. The Paris court admitted the arbitrage request from Romania’s state, the Energy Department has announced. Romania is asking Enel to pay EUR 521 million based on an article in the privatization contract for Electrica Muntenia Sud, currently owned by Enel. According to this article, the Romanian state has the right to sell and Enel has the obligation to buy the 13.57% holding that the state still holds in the former Electrica Muntenia Sud, according to a price mechanism that is set in the privatization contract, which was signed in 2007. Enel paid a total of EUR 433 million for 50% of Electrica Muntenia Sud, in 2008, and then upped its holding to 64.4% via a EUR 425 million capital increase. The Italian group recently announced that it wants to sell its electricity distribution assets in Romania by the end of this year, including the former Electrica Muntenia Sud. The Romanian state wants to buy some of those assets via two of its companies, Electrica and Nuclearelectrica. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com