This is the transcript of the message delivered by Daniela Lulache, CEO at Nuclearelectrica, during the Energy Strategy Summit, held on June 4 at the Cantacuzino Palace in Bușteni.

I’ll try not to focus what I have to say on the nuclear but I am convinced that nuclear power has and will continue to have a role in all development and then indeed I would try and summarize this day. I think the first point I would emphasize is the following: we don’t lack a strategy, we lack a vision. If today was much discussion on the subject, I think I heard the word Strategy more often than the word Vision. Another conclusion would be that I think we are not missing a document, but we lack action and I don’t think we necessarily need the authorities to show us the light; we need the authority to create a framework in which each of us will know how to move. These are some brief conclusions.

Although I am not an engineer, not a specialist in energy, I am a very careful observer and the whole industry in which we express undergoes today through a major inflection point; we like it or not, we are witnessing a paradigm shift. We act or not act, the paradigm will change, we may have a role and we can capitalize on this moment, or we will observe from the sidelines again as a train passes by, another industry lost, another expertise lost. As was mentioned earlier, we have a specific geopolitical situation, which again probably many of you knew for some time, but we had pretty much ground to ignore it. Today it has become a reality and its cold breath we all feel, a reality that raises questions not only for Romania, but for the European Union also.

That is another reality; again, whether we like it or not, we operate in a system, we cannot operate autistic; we must accept the integration and better work for it than against it. I am convinced that the Energy Union is a reality that will become a stronger presence in our life. Coming from the banking industry, I still pay attention to what is happening there, and the European Banking Union was far less developed three years ago than it is today the Energy Union. But look, the banking union began operating extremely seriously and has direct and material impact on all players in the industry. I am convinced that the speed with which the Energy Union will be implemented will be much faster than the one that put in place the Banking Union.

Speaking about the role of the state, there was a period in which were set very high expectations for the state, expecting the state to give us markets, give us rules, give us a lot of things, and then, after we found that the state has a negative impact, it was pulled out completely and the new paradigm was that government should not do anything, let free competition alone, let markets and businesses to have their say. Today we have to try a new dimension.

We note that today we need competition, we need low prices, we need long-term sustainable price, we must be in the market now, but we must also imagine where will we be in 10-20 years? The question of the environment is increasingly serious, and European countries have taken such commitments. The question of security of supply is asked, discussions about measuring goals using other metrics than the simple GDP and about eco-economy are made.

Therefore, the partnership we proposed between the State and Business becomes an element that I do not think we will be able to ignore, neither we, nor the authorities. Perhaps it is best to do what Toni proposed (Toni Volpe, CEO at Enel Romania – e.n), us to begin to come up with concrete proposals, without waiting for a vision, a strategy, a plan. I do not believe in great plans, but believe in realistic plans, flexible plans. Life is dynamic; we cannot remain stuck in a plan made 10 years ago. In conclusion, not the absence of strategy is what entangles us, and we must have alternative scenarios.

Thank you very much.