EFT said in a press release Monday the contract and its arbitration are governed by Swiss law. The bilateral contracts between EFT and Hidroelectrica were concluded in 2003 and 2004.
EFT said Hidroelectrica’s one-sided termination of the contracts led to financial losses for the Swiss energy trader, estimated at EUR80 million.
EFT has been trading electricity in Romania since 2001 and the group had a turnover of EUR800 million internationally last year.
EFT is one of the firms that had large contracts with Hidroelectrica and bought electricity of RON136.68 million (EUR32.3 million) in 2011.
Euro Insol, Hidroelectrica’s judicial administrator, terminated the contract with EFT in 2012, when Hidroelectrica first entered insolvency. EFT sued Euro Insol over contract termination in July 2012.
The main reason Hidroelectrica entered insolvency was its sale of electricity at prices below market levels, under bilateral contracts. According to Euro Insol, Hidroelectrica lost EUR1.1 billion in 2006-2012 from selling electricity directly at underrated prices.
Hidroelectrica exited insolvency procedures in June 2013 but re-entered insolvency in February 2014. The company is owned by the state through the Department for Energy.