Energy Ministry in FT: E.ON-MVM Deal May Face Security Block

Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja told the Financial Times (FT) that the takeover of gas and electricity supplier E.On Energie Romania by Hungarian state-owned company MVM could be blocked for security reasons, with Romania following the precedent of Spain, which blocked a takeover of a railway business by a Hungarian company.

We have seen precedents in Spain, where a deal involving the Hungarian entity was rejected by a committee similar to the Romanian one,” Burduja said. We will have to take all of this into account then to reach a decision.” E.ON Energie România serves millions of Romanian customers with electricity and gas, with a market share approaching 50%, he said.
The Hungarian company offered to pay up to 200 million euros for the majority stake in E.On Energie, well above the value of the company, which Burduja valued at a maximum of 50 million euros. The publication also mentions that the Hungarians’ offer eliminated competitors, including two Romanian state-owned energy companies.
Minister Burduja said that intelligence services would contribute to assessing the risk of MVM’s takeover of E.ON Energie.The value of the transaction will be analyzed, as well as the potential implications on the energy market,” he said. We will investigate further, probably also requesting a point of view from the national security institution,” the minister added.We will not allow Russian gas to enter the country,” said Burduja, who also stated that Romania wants to exploit its own natural gas resources and buy the additional quantities needed from the markets.
In December, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the Financial Times, after discussing the MVM deal with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, that there were “unresolved issues” that still needed to be resolved. The Romanian Prime Minister raised these issues and asked … to set up a joint working group to calm everyone down and make everything transparent,” Orbán said at the time.
German group E.On announced in mid-month that it had reached an agreement with Hungarian state-owned MVM to sell E.ON’s gas and electricity division in Romania and its services company E.ON Asist Complet.
The transaction was expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Subsequently, the authorities in Bucharest announced that the transaction “will enter the complex approval circuit, both at national and European level”, which involves a detailed analysis of compliance with competition rules, but also analysis by the Commission for the Examination of Foreign Direct Investments (CEISD), “an institution that supervises strategic investments to protect Romania’s interests”.
blockedelectricityenergy ministerEONFinancial Times (FT)gasHungarian state-ownedMVMsebastian burdujasecuritySpaintakeoverViktor Orban
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