The entire energy sector has been significantly affected by the European Union’s decision to support renewable energy sources; in the case of Romania, it was specifically a law establishing a system of green certificate allocation. On that basis, the Romanian Government guaranteed to allocate two green certificates to foreign investors by 2017 and then one for a period of at least 15 years with a clearly defined price range. However, in July 2013 the Government adopted an extraordinary measure and cut the aid in half, thus forcing investors in the energy sector to reconsider their strategies that had been based on the original guarantees.

Not only did the Government shift the payment of one of the two green certificates to 2018; at the same time, they also reduced a quota for the mandatory buying of electricity generated from renewable sources, which led to a drop in the green certificate price. “The steps taken by the Romanian Government significantly affected the expected return on our investment. Nevertheless, my impression from today’s meeting is that the Romanian party is willing to seek a reasonable solution,” Daniel Beneš, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of ČEZ, commented on the meeting. ČEZ also actively discusses the situation at hand with representatives of the European Union, as the changes in the Romanian legislation caused a delay in the notification of the green certificate allocation to a part of the Fantanele Vest wind park.

ČEZ expanded to foreign markets ten years ago as the company wanted to capitalize on its free cash in countries enjoying fairly good investment ratings in terms of development potential. However, the economic crisis and the European Union’s policy of aiding renewable energy sources heavily influenced the situation in the Balkans. At this time, the CEZ Group’s strategy abroad is to reduce its exposure in markets will low prospects and to focus on countries with a greater political and economic stability.