FORMER SPECIAL ADMINISTRATOR GABRIEL DUMITRAŞCU: "The state can take over the administration of Hidroelectrica"

• Gerea: "It is not feasible to do that prior to its exit from insolvency"

The shareholders of Hidroelectrica SA, which is currently going through insolvency proceedings, can now ask the trustee in bankruptcy to grant them the right to manage the company, former special administrator Gabriel Dumitraşcu wrote in his activity report for the month of June.

In the aforementioned report he stated that, on June 20, 2015, the last tranche of the 24 that were owed to creditors was repaid, as Hidroelectrica is the only insolvent company in Romania that has paid off its debts at their nominal value. "Hidroelectrica repaid 3.817 billion lei out of the total 4.313 billion lei recorded with the body of creditors. The amount of 496 million lei which is still due represents installments for loans and credit lines which are coming due on September 15th, 2021", he noted in the report, in which he reminded that Hidroelectrica posted a record profit of 725 million lei in the first six months of 2015, up 42% YOY.

"From that point of view, the actions to revise the articles of incorporation and the procedures for selecting the administrators of Hidroelectrica should be launched", Mr. Dumitraşcu further noted in the report.

When asked yesterday by BURSA whether the Ministry of Energy has studied this option and whether its application is possible, minister Andrei Gerea replied: "I don't know if it is technically possible to do something like that. I don't see that idea as feasible. We will completely take over the management of Hidroelectrica once it exits insolvency. We still have several ongoing lawsuits filed by «the clever boys» in the energy sector".

Mr. Gerea said that he hopes Hidroelectrica will exit insolvency next year, and the listing would be made a few months afterwards. "It all depends on the pace of the lawsuits and the date the insolvency is completed on", he said.

• The management of Hidroelectrica: "American investors, interested in the IPO of the company"

A mission of the management of Hidroelectrica has participated in the Economic Mission of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce And Industry in the United States of America between September 28th - October 2nd, 2015. According to a press release sent to the editors, the officials of Electrica and Remus Borza, the company's insolvency administrator, say that they have met in New York, at the Best Invest Economic Forum, as well as in bilateral meetings, with the representatives of several investment funds, among which they mentioned Segra Capital Management, Eaton Vance Investment Managers, LR Global, Newtyn Capital, Driehaus Capital Management, Benclinov & Associates.

"The meetings were extremely fruitful, as investors are particularly interested in the IPO of Hidroelectrica, in the working schedule for preparing the launch of the initial IPO and the measures taken by the insolvency administrator, which have led to a spectacular evolution of the company's results and financial ratios. We have to mention that most of the investment funds that we talked to are already familiar with the Romanian business environment and market conditions, as they are already present in Romania through stock they hold in the Proprietatea Fund", the Hidroelectrica communiqué further states.

In the second part of the economic mission, Romania's delegates, which included Hidroelectrica officials, traveled to Washington, where it met with the heads of the USTDA (US Trade and Development Agency), of the OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation), as well as with representatives of the US Chamber of Commerce and with those of consulting firm McGuireWoods (which is also present in Romania through its Bucharest Office).

Also, the Hidroelectrica delegation met with Governor John Engler, president of the National Governor Association, as well as of the Business Roundtable, an association of the executives of the most important American companies, with annual revenues of 7.4 trillion dollars and over 16 million employees, according to the quoted source.

Over 30 of the companies that are members of the Business Roundtable have a significant presence in Romania. The management of Hidroelectrica states that the economic mission to the US has been a success, which is confirmed by the large number of investment funds and consulting firms interested in the future IPO of the company and by the very constructive exchange of expertise with the officials of reputed companies in the sector.