Bogdan Ivan, the minister of energy in the government that fell by a no-confidence motion, asked a national company to buy gas from the US through Romanian intermediaries and supported the purchase of gas in a letter that he sent to Cotroceni and the Victoria Palace.
“On January 16, Bogdan Ivan sent letters to President Nicușor Dan and Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in which he asks them to sign a governmental agreement with the USA for Romania to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the USA through the intermediary Nova Gas&Trade, according to the documents consulted by the editors”, writes G4Media.
The minister's initiative came to “avoid the risk of a diplomatic deadlock with the strategic partner USA”, explains the PSD politician in the letter consulted by the quoted source.
The letter's move came against the backdrop of the larger, detailed by HotNews in another episode in which Ivan also played an active role. While he was minister of energy, Bogdan Ivan tried to convince the gas producer Romgaz to buy liquefied natural gas from the USA, through Greek and Romanian intermediaries, HotNews wrote.
Romgaz is the largest producer of natural gas in Romania, over OMV Petrom in terms of gas. Romgaz has operations on shore and in the Black Sea. Starting from 2027, with the exploitation of the Black Sea gas, national production will gradually increase, by more than 75% compared to what it is now, above the national consumption requirement, according to the Government's promises. Gases from the Black Sea will be extracted by Romgaz together with OMV Petrom, in equal shares.
According to HotNews information, after the teleconference with Minister Ivan, the heads of Romgaz refused to buy gas. Both the content of the February 11 teleconference and Romgaz's refusal were confirmed by two other sources.
In recent months, HotNews has documented the topic of the teleconference and its wider ramifications. The editorial office requested an answer from the Ministry of Energy regarding the conversation between the minister and the heads of the state companies.
Among the questions addressed to the ministry was whether the Minister of Energy has responsibilities regarding gas purchases. The ministry did not respond.
