OPCOM Reacts To Austrian Ambassador’s Statements

05.10.2011 By Andrei Circhelan

The creation of another energy bourse in Bucharest would go against the European model, and a similar initiative failed in Hungary recently, Romanian energy market operator OPCOM said Tuesday, in reply to suggestions made earlier by the Austrian Ambassador to Bucharest.

The Austrian Ambassador, Michael Schwarzinger, said Tuesday at the opening bell of the Bucharest Stock Exchange that he proposed the privatization of energy market operator OPCOM, or the creation of a new energy bourse. Furthermore, he believes Romania should free the energy market, since transparent pricing is the only way to draw foreign investment on this segment.

In his turn, the head of Austrian energy bourse oversight committee EXAA, Hansjorg Tengg, said that even though the global trend points to the creation of a single energy bourse, each country should first create its own bourse.

The EXAA official added energy prices started decreasing in Austria when utilities companies started competing. In addition, according to him, companies only need to trade about 20% of the overall quantity of energy in order to establish a correct spot price, while the remaining quantity can be traded through other methods.

OPCOM replied saying Romania's energy bourse trades, through various products, 26% of Romania's electricity consumption, among 170 players, including 64 foreign companies, using fair and balanced rules applied to producers and suppliers alike.

OPCOM is state-owned, the same as the electricity bourses in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Slovenia, Holland and Belgium, the market said in a news release.