The remainder of 1.4 billion lei allocated to, but unspent by Energocom during the October energy crunch is still in the Government’s accounts; the money was only allocated and not effectively transferred, clarified Finance Minister Dumitru Budianschi.

“The money will be transferred to Energocom when it decides that it needs this money. This money is intended to guarantee energy security. If it wasn’t for this allocation, we would have had problems with gas supplies in late October. And only this allocation of 387 million lei allowed Energocom to make gas purchases, to infuse additional amounts into the system so at to maintain stable pressure levels”, said Budianschi.

According to the minister, the Government is currently working on a program to ensure energy security and measures that will be implemented in the near future, and Energocom will play an important role; therefore Energocom must be prepared and able to cope with the planned operations.

Providing further clarifications, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița said that Energocom has received an allocation of up to 1.7 billion lei and the company is authorized to withdraw only what it effectively spends. “So the 1.4 billion lei left unspent by Energocom remains in the state budget”, explained Gavrilița.