The Government and the Parliament, regardless of the political color, must shake hands, and together with the energy sector to achieve a viable industrialization strategy of Romania, said Silvia Vlăsceanu, executive director of Federation of Associations of Energy Utility Companies (ACUE).

“We are indeed seeing a reduction in consumption and a move from the industrial area to the domestic area and it is understandable. It is time for the authorities, the Government, the Parliament, regardless of the political color, to shake hands and rethink and put on the table a viable industrialization strategy so that we can stimulate resource consumption and all sectors benefit and be prepared for another period, that does not affect us as much as this pandemic period. Everyone accepts that it is possible that, in the autumn, we may face a difficult situation again and I hope we will be ready. We do not know how to take advantage of or talk about the opportunities offered, on the one hand, by European funds for the next financial year, or the opportunities that Green Deal brings. However, it is time to shake hands and contribute to this approach and to this effort,” said Vlăsceanu.

The ACUE representative mentioned that digitalization is very important for the energy sector, and this has been auspicious for the last two months, according to Agerpres.

“The energy sector did not seem to have been so affected (by the COVID-19 crisis, no.), however, all staff in the sector, at least ACUE members, had as their first objective to ensure the continuity of electricity and natural gas supply during this period. Not only did the staff in the energy sector not suffer from technical unemployment or layoffs, but they were at the forefront, as were other colleagues in other sectors. Fortunately, it was only in the last few days that we began to face cases of illness among staff who have had to deal with quarantined people, and digitalization is also very important to us, because during this period all operators and suppliers of energy and natural gas have tried to provide customers with alternative channels of payment, meter reading, so as to minimize physical contact between our customers and the operating staff,” said the executive director of ACUE.