Bogdan Tudorache

The Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment, through the Energy Participation Management Company (SAPE), negotiated getting over 100 million euros (approximately 502 million lei) as an extraordinary dividend from three companies in the Enel Group in which SAPE is a minority shareholder. By the end of February, about 95% of the amount had already been transferred to the SAPE accounts, which promised to give up previous litigation regarding additional dividends.

The dividends were distributed from the reported result of the previous years, and the negotiations for their granting were carried out between representatives of SAPE, Enel Group and Fondul Proprietatea, the decision regarding the payment of dividends being made through the joint agreement of the parties.

The discussions from the state were coordinated by Virgil Popescu, Minister of Economy, Energy and Business Environment – through the SAPE team led by Bogdan Stănescu, the president of the SAPE SA Board.

“As Minister of Economy, Energy and Business Environment, I coordinated and I was in permanent contact with the negotiating team that represented the state in this endeavor. This success shows that the professional approach from the state, based on documentation, negotiation and compliance with the law, is what brings consensus and gain in a state-private shareholding, and not only. I want to thank everyone involved in this process for their professionalism. Most of the amount has already been received on February 21, 2020. It follows that the remaining payment, representing 20% of the amounts related to the dividends distributed by Dobrogea E-Distribution, will be paid by mid-August 2020,” said Virgil Popescu, Minister of Economy, Energy and the Business Environment.

Also, Bogdan Stănescu, the President of the SAPE Board of Directors said: “It is a first for Romania and a definite success in the negotiations for dividend distribution. The effective negotiations were concluded favorably for the Romanian state, on December 30. In this context, SAPE will give up the litigation for the recovery of the amounts representing dividends that would have been due by December 31, 2018.”

The value of the dividends is in line with the participation that the Romanian State has in the mentioned companies: 10% of the shares of E-Distribuție Muntenia, 24.86% of the E-Distribuție Banat shares, respectively 24.9% of the E-Distribuție Dobrogea shares.