Romanian Govt. grants state aid to thermal electricity producer

The Government wants to give Romania's thermal electricity producer Complexul Energetic Hunedoara a EUR 22.6 million individual state aid for six months. The money comes from privatizations. The Competition Council has approved the state aid, and it already notified the European Commission, according to Mediafax. The company will use the state aid to cover the minimum current expenses for six months, including the ones needed to acquire emission certificates for greenhouse gas emissions. After six months, Complexul Energetic Hunedoara needs to come with a restructuring plan, which the European Commission has to approve. The aid obliges the electricity producer to legally separate its activities and apply a restructuring program. The company currently includes two thermal power plants in Deva and Paroseni and seven coal mines in the Jiului Valley that supply the power plants. Complexul Energetic Hunedoara had about 6,600 employees last year, most of them miners. Romanian electricity producer restructuring to include layoffs State aid to close uncompetitive coal mines in Romania editor@romania-insider.com