Bogdan Tudorache

The government today repealed the ordinance banning the disconnection of bad debtors from electricity or gas grids introduced during the alert period caused by the pandemic. However, the debtors will have a buffer period in which to reschedule or make payments and will be able to even renegotiate, in some cases, contracts with suppliers, told Energynomics Ion Lungu, executive director of the suppliers’ association – AFEER.

At the end of June, about 173,000 places of electricity consumption were on the list of bad payers, he said.

“There is a 90-day buffer-period in which they have the opportunity to pay their arrears, or, in some absolutely special and exceptional cases, to negotiate with suppliers possibly an extension of a month or two for a staged schedule and, after that, notices are sent. Nobody wants to disconnect them, it’s clear, but they have to understand that it’s an unpleasant situation, when you haven’t paid your bills for a year,” said Ion Lungu.

Suppliers were affected by the increase in prices, being forced to suffer losses also due to the ordinance that did not allow the disconnection of bad payers.

“Affected by the health and economic crisis, energy suppliers have taken all the risks, many of them being in a difficult situation from a financial point of view, a situation generated both by rising market prices and the obligation to deliver energy to consumers who did not pay their invoices during the alert state, which affects the entire portfolio of clients,” AFEER officials said in a release sent yesterday to the press.

“In this context, we appreciate the approach of the Ministry of Energy, which responded to the requests from us, and proposes for approval to the Government of a draft Emergency Ordinance that aims to repeal the provisions of art. 72, paragraph (1) of the Emergency Ordinance no. 70/2020, in order to return to the legislative provisions that allow – in regulated contractual conditions – the disconnection of bad debtors,” added the AFEER officials.