The pandemic has thrown unpredictability on the Romanian economy, in an already unpredictable and insecure environment, says Corneliu Bodea, CEO of Adrem, according to Newsenergy.ro.

“The effects were not delayed: many companies in the HoReCa chain, and not only, were affected and probably as many will go bankrupt, people who were left without jobs and future prospects, technical unemployment, recession, entrepreneurs with collapsing businesses and the effects will continue.

“The energy industry will be in the third place as a negative impact after tourism (hospitality) and transport because of COVID-19 and I argue – as a result of the rapid shutdown of entire industries, the cessation of production caused first of all by the need for social distancing and then by lower consumption, energy production will be significantly reduced.

“In this regard, I foresee an extremely difficult period for the producers, as well as for the energy carriers and distributors, who will be forced to adjust their costs as well as their investment plans. How profound this crisis will be depends on how long the consumption will be strongly affected. I personally believe that if this period exceeds 2 months, recovery will not be possible during this year. From my calculations only the direct losses from the decrease of consumption can amount to about 1 billion lei, to which will be added losses generated in the chain by the decrease or the stopping of the activity of some providers of services and equipments,” said Bodea.