Bucharest Mayor Gabriela Firea replied on Wednesday to criticism by Sierra Quadrant, the legal administrator of Electrocentrale Bucharest SA (ELCEN), stressing that Bucharest City Hall can not assume a payment of RADET’s debt of 3.7 billion lei, but only 1.2 billion, according to the decision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice – fact confirmed by lawyer Gheorghe Piperea, in an interview with energynomics.ro.

“We can not accept the amount of ELCEN planned in the reorganization plan, by the administrator, that is to pay 3.7 billion lei, an amount that is not provided in our accounts. We cannot recognize this amount. We have a decision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which expressly states and is a binding law for us, that we do not have that duty – besides the one I have recognized, of 1.2 (billion lei), and that alone can be payable. We have a written letter from the Competition Council that any leu over this amount, which we would pay to ELCEN, would mean state aid, so it would be illegal”, the mayor said, according to Agerpres.

She appreciated that Sierra Quadrant’s statements are part of a series of “political statements”.

Sierra Quadrant claimed in a press release that Rominsolv, RADET’s legal administrator and City Hall, would block the process of reorganizing ELCEN and RADET. The ELCEN Judicial Administrator added that City Hall “avoids assuming the payment of the RADET claim”, which de facto blocks the whole reorganization process of RADET and ELCEN.