“The banning of directly negotiated bilateral energy contracts places Romanian producers and suppliers in a discriminatory position compared with the other participants on the European markets. This discriminating aspect would trigger significant negative effects given that an internal electricity market will become operational in the European Union in 2014,” AFEER president, Ion Lungu, stated.
At the same time, massive energy trading on short-term contracts would distort the price and trigger lower investments in electricity production units, AFEER representatives said.
AFFER considers that the reintroduction of bilateral energy contracts would not trigger anti-competitive practices, if it is accompanied by “professional management”.
Romania’s state-run hydropower company Hidroelectrica filed for insolvency in 2012 due to losses caused by bilateral contracts, as it sold energy directly to several beneficiaries, at prices below the market prices, resulting in significant losses for the company.