Romania's Transgaz has investment projects worth EUR 1.62 bln

Romania’s state-owned gas carrier Transgaz has nine big investment projects ongoing, which are worth EUR 1.62 billion. The company plans to finalize them by 2026, general manager Ion Sterian said on Monday, as the company celebrated 10 years since its listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. “Seven of these projects are aimed at developing our domestic operations and two are international and could turn Transgaz into the first state-controlled Romanian company that turns into a regional multinational. We will become one of the four biggest companies of this type in Europe,” Sterian said. The company has submitted an offer to buy Moldova’s Vestmoldtransgaz, which is in charge of building the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline, and has partnered with Spanish group Reganosa to participate in the privatization of Greece’s gas transporter DESFA. Another major project is the development of the BRUA pipeline, which will connect Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria and will carry the gas from the Black Sea to Western Europe. The project is worth EUR 530 million, EUR 180 million of which come from the EU. Transgaz was listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in February 2008. The company’s shares went up by 50% since the listing and brought the investors a total return of 140%, taking into account the dividends distributed each year, according to BVB president Lucian Anghel. The state holds a 58.5% stake in the company, which has a market capitalization of EUR 1.03 billion. editor@romania-insider.com