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Volker Raffel ( E.ON): We are one of the major contributors to the state budget: last year we paid 1.8 billion lei
Last year, E.ON Romania paid about 371 million euros to the state and local budgets, 80% more than in 2021, and supported thousands of jobs, announced Volker Raffel, the general director of E.ON Romania.
' We are one of the biggest taxpayers in Romania to the state and local budgets. Last year, we paid 1.8 billion lei (about 371 million euros), 80% more than in 2021.We are at the same time, a partner for about 2,000 suppliers, so we directly and indirectly support thousands of jobs' , wrote Volker Raffel, in a post on Facebook, where he shows the causes that led to the biggest losses recorded since the entry of E.ON on the market, 18 years ago.
' Recently, I have seen in the public space, discussions which try to present the idea that, in these difficult times, multinational companies report zero profit or losses as a way to avoid paying tax to the state budget. In case such situations exist, I am sure that the state authorities do what is necessary to restore legality. On the other hand, it is unfair to generalised and stigamatize companies that behave in a correct way', said the general manager of E.ON Romania.
'Last year was by far the most difficult of the last 18 years, since E.ON has been on the Romanian market. We went through the worst crisis on the energy market, which affected the whole world. A crisis which has not yet ended. The state had to deal with the social and economic impact of the unprecedented rise in energy prices. In order to ensure energy for our consumers, we had to buy electricity and gas at market prices, prices several times higher, from the Romanian producers or importers, and as the ceiling existed, the costs were not reflected in the price paid by the end user. The purchase costs of the delivered energy were not fully acknowledged. This explains why the turnover was 13.7 billion lei, but this moneywent almost entirely on payments to others: energy producers and importers, transporters, distributors, the state, greeen certificates, cogeneration taxes, etc. In reality, the supplier has only a very small part of what cov ers its operating costs ( IT systems, invoicing, sending invoices, investments, call-centres, stores, etc.). At the same time, we paid taxes and we continue to pay interest for the loans we took to be able to continue the activity', said Voker Raffel.
According to him, the state has to pay the money it has committed to pay to the suppliers, money secured from the company's own sources to support the energy price compensation and capping schemes.
'The state reimbursed only a part of the money that we have to receive. This money is not a gift for us! It is the money that the state promised to pay to the suppliers, money that we secured from our own sources and from difficult loans to support the compensation/capping schemes for the energy prices. This is why we had the biggest losses since E.ON got on the Romanian market, 18 years ago. Without profit and no profit transfer to the shareholders, and the tariff freeze for the distribution company made the financial situation even worse. But we kept our end of the bargain and managed to ensure the continuity of the supply of electricity and natural gas to our 3.4 million users and we invest in networks', Volker Raffel said.
In his opinion, the crisis on the energy market is not over yet. ' We have to be careful if we think that the support schemes are going to disappear. And we have, together with the authorities to think how this will happen. That is why, before the rules change, a period of proper consultation is needed to avoid new disturbances or market blockages, as we have seen in the past' he wrote on the social media page.