The merger between Termoenergetica and ELCEN has been discussed for ten years, but without investments in new CHPs, in a few years, Bucharest will be left without heat and hot water, declared, on Friday, in a press conference, the general director of Electrocentrale Bucharest (ELCEN), Claudiu Crețu.
“We have been talking about the merger for ten years. Everyone, including the mayor-general, supports that the merger is the right solution. The merger implies a healthy start, from scratch. I keep hearing in the press that the City Hall has been brought out of bankruptcy. We are very happy if so it is, but this billion is needed and understood by everyone, which has been discussed for several years. Three months ago we were all convinced that there would be no more debts regarding the subsidy. We were all talking about trust and investments we are talking about new projects. Without new CHPs, these installations from the 60s cannot last long. In a few years, Bucharest will be without heat and hot water. There is a need for new investments, and there is the possibility of European funds to attract them we just have to be credible. For 10-15 years we have been in the same situation where the City Hall is not paying. We have seen that benches are being changed in Cişmigiu Park and pansies. Why are these debts not paid, as we are talking about Bucharest’s energy, about Bucharest’s energy system, critical infrastructure? A very, very important thing,” said Crețu, according to Agerpres.
He drew attention to the fact that ELCEN may go bankrupt if Termoenergetica does not honor its debt payment in the amount of one billion lei.
“The non-payment of this debt of one billion lei (by Termoenergetica to ELCEN, n.r.) raises a lot of risks regarding the district heating network. If Termoenergetica can enter insolvency, ELCEN, which emerged from insolvency last year, cannot enter insolvency, but directly into bankruptcy. The bankruptcy of ELCEN is something very serious. This is the reason why we demand responsibility and we do not understand why this coincidence, related to this period of the election campaign, and why the current payments are no longer made (… ) We have taken the legal steps, we have asked Termoenergetica to request a joint order from the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Finance to block the City Hall’s accounts. The only legal mechanism that we, ELCEN, can do is this,” he emphasized.
The head of ELCEN announced on Friday that Termoenergetica’s debt at ELCEN has now reached the value of one billion lei, after, at the end of 2020, it was 250 million lei.
“(…) We all know that Radet went bankrupt in 2019, then Termoenergetica was established and we thought it would start on a good trend. Let’s talk about numbers, because I don’t want this press conference to be interpreted in a different way than on the basis of clear figures. Termoenergetica’s debt to ELCEN, at the time of December 31, 2020, was approximately 300 million lei. Four years have passed and, today, Termoenergetica’s debt to ELCEN is one billion lei. It cannot be disputed. These are figures, and we are not talking about the historical debt of Radet, from the time of the former mayors, but the current debt, from the last three months, which is one billion lei,” he said.
In mid-March of this year, the Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja, declared, in a press conference, that the merger between ELCEN and Termoenergetica “is the only solution for ensuring a functional centralized heating system for Bucharest in the medium and long term.”