Electrica in the black

National electricity distributor Electrica will conclude this year with 1,500bn ROL (43.4 million euros) in profits, after having posted losses since its establishment three years ago. The 2002 turnover amounts to 1.7bn euros, compared with the 1.5bn euros in 2001. “When I first came to Electrica (i.e., March 2001), I found a company logging losses worth 5,500bn ROL and we ended the year with 1,000bn ROL in losses. Bill collection has improved in the meantime, while debts to the state or to the local budgets are practically none to zero,” Electrica’s general manager Silviu Lucian Boghiu says. Still, Electrica remains a link in the arrears chain. The company has some 12,000bn ROL (347 million euros) to collect, 8,000bn ROL of which account for bills more than 72 days old. Receivables totalled 15,000bn ROL three months ago. As regards investments, Electrica is running projects worth more than 50 million euros together with foreign equipment suppliers. ZF