Employees of Electrica over right to acquire stock in the company

Employees of Electrica SA and of its branches could gain in court the right to have the state owned company draft the methodological norms for the sale of as much as 10% of the company to its employees. Adolf Mureşan, the chairman of the Univers Federation, said: "There are is a big chance of court ruling favorable to the unions of the various branches of Electrica. The law grants us the right to acquire up to 10% of the stock of the branches of Electrica which were privatized. At the end of this year, the deadline expires for Electrica Moldova, which was taken over by E.ON. Therefore, if we win the case, Electrica SA will be forced by the court to draw up the norms for the sale of the stock. The law was passed in 2004 but it is not being applied".

While in the case of the division taken over by E.ON there is a deadline for the purchase of these shares, no deadline is stipulated for the divisions taken over by Enel. The two unions of Electrica SA employees have often announced their intention and willingness to buy the shares that they are entitled to.

Adolf Mureşan added: "Today even (ed. note: Friday) we had a discussion with officials of the Ministry of the Economy, who said that they can"t pass the government decree concerning the sale of the shares due to the absence of methodological norms. This happened in spite of the fact that we have signed an agreement with the Ministry of the Economy Adriean Videanu, by which the Ministry has decided to facilitate the sale of shares in Electrica to its employees".

The union leader claims that employees have lost patience with the dallying on this matter, after the privatization of five out of the eight divisions of Electrica. They threatened they would go to court if their right to acquire stock in the company isn"t honored.

Last year, Electrica and the Proprietatea Fund sold their stakes in the former Electrica Oltenia to Czech group CEZ. The employees of Electrica were left disappointed because the law granting the right to purchase share in Electrica did not include its Oltenia division, even though they have repeatedly requested the revision of the law.

By selling its stakes in Electrica to CEZ Distribuţie (18.99%) and CEZ Vânzare (18.99%), the Romanian state made 145.35 million Euros, the equivalent of 10.7%/share. Last year, CEZ bought the 30% stake that the Proprietatea Fund had in CEZ Distribuţie and CEZ Vânzare (which were spin-offs of Electrica Oltenia) for 229.6 million Euros.