Călin Meteș, Deputy General Manager for Investments, Franklin Templeton Bucharest and Deputy Portfolio Manager Fondul Proprietatea, stated during the ZF „Deschiderea de astăzi” show on January 17 that the listing of Hidroelectrica could take place by the end of 2022.

“Based on our experience and other listings made, a process of this nature has an average duration of eight months – a year. We hope that we will be able to bring this duration to the minimum limit”, said Călin Meteș.

A few days ago, the Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu declared for the Reuters news agency that Fondul Proprietatea will list “as soon as possible” at least 15% of Hidroelectrica, the largest energy producer in Romania.

Last year, Romania committed to listing 15% of Hidroelectrica until June 2023 as part of the objectives agreed with the European Union, included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

The fund owns 20% of Hidroelectrica, and the Romanian state has an 80% stake, but in 2020, the parliament introduced a two-year ban on the sale of state-owned companies, arguing that such moves would be against national interests, given which pandemic could lower the share price.

“The ban does not allow us to conduct an IPO, but we support the listing of all or part of the Fund’s holdings, at least 15% on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. We will vote in favour”, minister Popescu told Reuters.

Hidroelectrica will publish its 2021 results on February 28, 2022. The latest data, nine months from 2021, show revenues of 3.85 billion lei and a net profit of 1.78 billion lei.