The government on Thursday approved, by emergency ordinance, the granting of a state aid worth 3.9 billion RON to the company Complexul Energetic Valea Jiului S.A [Energy Complex – editor’s note] for the implementation of the mining closure plan to take place in stages between 2025 and 2032.

The minister of energy, Sebastian Burduja, stated, at the Victoria Palace, that the government thus transposed the approved decision at the level of the European Commission.

„Indeed, in Valea Jiului, in the last two years, two and a half years, we have gone from a company that was basically bankrupt, the Hunedoara Energy Complex, to a very complicated transfer of funds to a new company – Complexul Energetic Valea Jiului, after which we began an extensive negotiation process with the European Commission for the approval of a state aid. In all European countries, the safety of mining operations was done with state aid, therefore with support, because it involves certain costs of extracting the open coal reserve, of making the operations safe, of greening the perimetres. Today, the Romanian government has transposed, by emergency ordinance, the decision approved at the European Commission level for a total amount of 3.9 billion RON until 2032,” said Burduja.

According to him, this money goes towards the closure and safety of the four mines in Valea Jiului: Lonea, which will close at the end of this year, Lupeni – on June 30, 2026 and Vulcani and Livezeni – at the end of 2030.

AGERPRES