Romania’s largest electricity producer Hidroelectrica SA won the trial with Swiss group Alpiq. This was one of the energy traders that had privileged purchasing power contracts with the state-owned company and whose contracts got canceled when Hidroelectrica entered insolvency, portal Romania Insider reported. The companies in the Alpiq group had contested Hidroelectrica’s decision to file for insolvency in June 2012.
The Bucharest Court has rejected as unfounded the opposition presented by the companies Alpiq Romindustries, Alpiq Romenergie, Alpiq AG and Sindicatul National Petrom Energie, the article said. The court has also obliged the companies Alpiq Romindustries and Alpiq Romenergie to pay court fees worth about EUR 6,600 to both Hidroelectrica and to the Romanian investment fund Fondul Proprietatea, which supported Hidroelectrica.
Last month the Competition Council sanctioned Hidroelectrica and its ten contractual partners, mainly electricity traders including Alpiq RomIndustries, with fines totalling RON 165.84 million (EUR 36.57 million) for concluding irregular agreements. The ruling will help Hidroelectrica in its law suits as it shows contracts were illegal, said Remus Borza, the company’s insolvency administrator said at the time. The opponents in the cases are small firms which bought cheap power from Hidroelectrica from 2003 to 2012, and asked for damages when contracts were terminated, he said.
