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British interest in investing in Romania in the nuclear field, in oil and natural gas exploitation projects
The representatives of the two-day British mission in Romania have spoken their interest in investing here in projects in the nuclear field and also in oil and natural gas exploitation projects, all the more as new resources are about to be confirmed in the Black Sea perimeter, the Ministry of Energy informed in a release on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Energy, Small and Middle-Sized Enterprises and the Business Milieu, Andrei Gerea, together with the representatives of the other institutions and companies subordinated to the Ministry, on Tuesday had a working meeting with the delegation of the British economic mission in the field of energy.
"In his message delivered in opening the discussions, the Minister of Energy, Andrei Gerea, wanted to salute the British businessmen's interest in the business opportunities offered by Romania and highlighted the role of a regional hub and supplier of energy security Romania hopes to be able to play in the close future in the Central and South East Europe. Moreover, the Minister indicated the governmental measures supporting the investors and showed the role they played in improving the business climate," read the release.
The representatives of the Romanian side presented data related to the companies subordinated to the Ministry of Energy, their shareholding structure, the situation of their stock exchange listings, as well as the situation of companies subjected to such restructuring and privatisation plans.
Besides the interest shown by the British side in investment projects in the field of energy, discussions also focused on the safety of the Romanian nuclear installations, but also on the manner in which the population regards such investments in this field, in the context in which at the European level discussions are currently rather polarised on this topic.
Moreover, they brought into talks such issues related to the manner in which the oil prices affect the investment climate in our country, but also issues of international political interest, as the impact of the conflict in Ukraine or the importance of the Danube for ensuring energy security for the European Union.
Another item on the agenda was the renewable energy sector, presented by Secretary of State Bogdan Badea, who insisted on the situation of the national aid schemes in the field, as well as on Romania's willingness to adopt new technologies and exploit other resources that are less represented from an economic perspective at the present: biogas, biomass, waste etc.
"In order to answer to a specific request of the British representatives, Bogdan Badea assured them of the fact that the aid schemes in the field of renewable energy existing in Romania will continue to treat those who want to invest in such projects in a correct manner," said the release.
Participating in the meeting held at the Ministry of Energy headquarters were also, on behalf of the UK, the British Ambassador in Romania, Paul Brummell, the head of the economic mission, Brian Wilson, and other representatives of the diplomatic mission, as well as the representatives of 26 British companies operating in the energy field.
The meeting was arranged following a request of Paul Brummell during his meeting with Andrei Gerea on February 7, 2015, when they identified numerous similarities existing between the energy mixes in the two countries, as well as a series of cooperation opportunities.
The delegation that was received at the headquarters of the Ministry of Energy, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Business Milieu is part of a larger British economic mission, which includes the representatives of 60 British companies visiting Romania on March 9-10, 2015.
On November 31, 2014 (as shows by available data), the UK ranked 8th among Romania's trade partners, with a 3.15 per cent weight in Romania's foreign trade and 6th among the EU members states, with a volume of trade exchanges by 5.9 per cent higher than the one recorded in the same interval in 2013.
According to data revealed by the National Trade Register (ONRC), UK ranked 10th among the residence countries of investors in companies running on foreign capital in Romania, on December 31, 2014, with a value of the share capital worth 987 million euros (2.6 per cent of the total foreign investments in Romania), invested in 5,002 companies running on British capital. From the total subscribed capital of companies in UK, 53.2 percent targeted the drilling and processing industry.