Ministry of Energy requests the revocation of Romgaz members

The Ministry of Energy, as the majority shareholder of Romgaz, requests the revocation of the members of the Board of Directors of the natural gas producer, according to a report by the issuer published on Friday on the website of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

The ministry requested the addition of a series of points to the agenda of Romgaz shareholders on April 14th, aimed at the revocation of the company's board members, for non-imputable reasons, in order to meet milestone no. 121 of Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), as well as the election of provisional board members with a five-month mandate.

Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja announced two weeks ago that he would request the dismissal of board members of companies majority owned by the state, in order to comply with the criteria of this milestone in the PNRR, which targets corporate governance in state-owned enterprises. Last fall, the European Commission sent a letter to the Ciolacu Government announcing the suspension of the payment of 1.1 billion euros from the third payment request from the PNRR, due to conflicts of interest and political influences in the appointment of directors of state-owned energy companies.

Romgaz's Board of Directors is currently composed of Chairman Dan Dragoş Drăgan and members Aristotel Marius Jude, Marius Gabriel Nuţ, Răzvan Braslă, Gheorghe Silvian Sorici, Botond Balasz and Elena Lorena Stoian.

Last week, the ministry submitted a similar request for the Board of Directors of Hidroelectrica. Romgaz, the largest producer and main supplier of natural gas in our country, ended 2024 with a net profit of 3.21 billion lei, up 14.48% compared to 2023. Revenues decreased by over 11%, to 8.54 billion lei. Natural gas production increased by 3.64%, to 4.962 billion cubic meters, while electricity production decreased by 8.55%, to 880.3 GWh.

The Romanian State, through the Ministry of Energy, owns 70% of the natural gas producer headquartered in Mediaş, whose stock market valuation amounts to about 23.3 billion lei.