Ion Lungu, president of the Romanian Energy Suppliers Association (AFEER), said that suppliers should be supported by providing the possibility of obtaining additional financing through short-term loans, with as little or no interest as possible, in order cope with decreased consumption due to coronavirus outbreak.
Lungu noted that since the state of emergency was declared, namely between 15 March and 10 April, Romania’s energy consumption decreased by some 7 %, while the decrease should reach 10 % by the end of the month. He expressed hope that by the end of the year, with the restart of the economy, the decrease of energy consumption in Romania would remain at 10-12 % level.
Lungu also said that some legislation changes introduced since the start of the outbreak are affecting the energy market. The first piece of such legislation is the ordinance which gives small and medium enterprises the possibility to postpone their utility bills during the emergency period, without any provision related to any support for suppliers.
