Power and natural gas prices up in 2005

The price of the electrical power supplied to end users (household consumers included) will go up by 4.6% on the average as of January 1, 2005, and the natural gas price will rise 5%, the authorities announced. The National Energy Regulation Authority (ANRE) says the decision to increase the price was made so as the companies in the sector could recoup their costs, Romania could keep its international commitments and necessary investments in the sector could be sustained. At the same time, the ANRE officials specify that the drafting of the new tariff calculation methods also considered the possibilities to pay the power bill in Romania. The price of the electrical power coming form the hydro-power plants was doubled to allow producers to fund some 1,200bn ROL investments. As for the natural gases, the National Natural Gas Regulating Authority (ANRGN) says the differentiation of the tariffs by consumption and the introduction of the monthly natural gas subscriptions will be postponed until April 1. ZF