Commission opens in-depth State aid investigation into Romania's amended restructuring plan for CE Oltenia

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether Romania's proposed amendments to power company CE Oltenia's restructuring plan are in line with EU state aid rules.

In January 2022 the Commission conditionally approved Romanian restructuring aid of €2.66 billion (RON 13.15 billion) for CE Oltenia, supporting its restructuring plan for the period 2021-2026. The Commission approved the restructuring aid under the Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty ('R&R Guidelines').

The Commission's investigation

In December 2025, Romania notified an amended restructuring plan with an increase of the restructuring aid from €2.66 billion to €2.86 billion and an extension of the restructuring period by three years until the end of 2029. According to Romania, the reason for the extension is the delayed implementation of new power generation plants based on solar energy and gas, which in turn has delayed the phaseout of CE Oltenia's existing lignite capacities. Romania argues that there is a risk to security of supply in the region, due to the current geopolitical situation. Romania, via CE Oltenia, is the main supplier of electricity for neighbouring Republic of Moldova and one of the energy suppliers for Ukraine.

At this stage, based on the information provided by Romania, the Commission needs to verify whether the revised restructuring plan is compatible with EU State aid rules. Therefore, the Commission has decided to open an in-depth investigation to assess, in particular:

• whether the extended duration of the plan is reasonable and the plan still leads to restoring CE Oltenia'a long-term viability;
• whether the contribution from CE Oltenia, investors or financial institutions to increased restructuring costs is sufficient to ensure that the aid remains proportionate;
• whether Romania would put in place adequate additional measures to limit the distortions of competition created by the additional aid;
• whether the delays in the implementation of key steps of CE Oltenia's restructuring plan were outside of CE Oltenia's or Romania's control.

The opening of an in-depth investigation gives Romania and interested third parties, including CE Oltenia, the opportunity to submit comments. It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.

Background

CE Oltenia is a Romanian public company active in lignite mining and power generation. The Romanian State controls CE Oltenia (87.48% of the shares), while investment fund Fondul Proprietatea (11.81%) and other public companies hold the remainder. CE Oltenia is one of the main employers (over 8 000 staff) in a region with unemployment rates consistently above the national average.

The Guidelines on rescue and restructuring aid to non-financial undertakings in difficulty enable Member States to support companies in difficulty, under certain strict conditions. In particular, where restructuring aid has been approved, the Member State concerned may, during the restructuring period, ask the Commission to agree to changes to the restructuring plan and the amount of the aid.

For more information

The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.117913 in the State aid register on the Commission's competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved. New publications of State aid decisions on the internet and in the Official Journal are listed in the Competition Weekly e-News.