According to sources quoted by Bursa daily, the Italian group Enel would have received a request from a Chinese group to allow access to the data room of Enel assets in Romania. Requests such as this came also from Electrica in connection with its former subsidiaries privatized to Enel, says the daily based on information from unofficial channels.
Privatization contract shows that the Romanian state has right of first refusal to take control of the entity that resulted from Electrica Muntenia Sud, an organization that distributes power including in Bucharest, the capital. Enel declined to provide confirmation or denial of this information.
On the energy market in Romania some believe that Enel will certainly sell to entities in China, while others consider that such entry of China into an area with a natural monopoly in Romania will not happen. Sensitivities are about the business model that the Chinese could adopt, not only in capital inflows from China but also in equipment and work force imported from there that could deploy jobs for Romanians, with the risk of weakening the quality of services for distribution and supply.
Sources close to the situation told Bursa daily that the Chinese company asked details about concession contracts for the distribution network held by Enel, and about the distribution tariffs.
Enel plans to sell 64.4% of Enel Distribuție Muntenia and Enel Energie Muntenia, 51% of Enel Distribuție Banat, Enel Distribuție Dobrogea and Enel Energie, and 100% in Enel Romania.
The sale may be delayed by the case filed to the International Arbitration Court in Paris between the Romanian state and Enel,in which the government claims a sum of about 522 million euros, think some analysts in the field, but Enel does not believe in this statement.
Enel manages a network of 91,000 kilometers which distributes about 14 TWh per year (with a market share of 34%) and sells approximately 9TWh / year to approximately 2.6 million customers, of which 2.4 million are residential customers (approximately 20% of the retail market) and 200,000 are companies. In 2013, Enel companies in Romania had revenues of 1.118 billion euros and an operating profit of 289 million euros.