E.ON struggles with Ft100 bn consumer debt

By the end of this year the debt of the consumers towards E.ON Földgáz Trade, subsidiary company of the German E.ON Ruhrgas, can reach as much as Ft100 billion, mostly because of the strengthening of the dollar.


The reason behind this is the repealing of the correction enactment (IK) in September that balanced out deficiencies between the import price and the currency rates as the price of the natural gas is not adjusted to the oil price in the same quarter but corrected later.
Without the correction enactment E.ON has to finance these debts as flat credit but without legal guarantee from the government. In 2006 when E.ON Ruhrgas bought the gas supplier sector from Hungarian oil, Mol it took over a Ft 100 billion debt as well. This outstanding balance left over from 2005 and 2006 was reimbursed since then, but due to the insufficient rise of consumer prices in 2007 and 2008 the debt volume increased again, explained István Kutas, spokesperson of E.ON Földgáz Trade.
Currently E.ON is negotiating on expert’s level with the Hungarian authorities about the wholesales price of the natural gas and the settling of the accumulated debt, said Kutas. From Thursday the negotiations will move to a higher level as Bernhard Reutersberg, chairman of the German E.ON Ruhrgas comes to Budapest to meet with Péter Kiss, Chancery minister; Ádám Ficsor, cabinet leader of PM’s office; and László Puch, state secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Telecommunication and Energy, reported Hungarian new site, Hírszerzô.
According to the energy portfolio it is not necessary to raise the natural gas price in the beginning of next year, reported Hungarian news agency MTI. The Hungarian Energy Authority suggests the price correction quarter-yearly, which will happen in the next couple of days. Earlier experts expected the gas price can increase by five to ten percent in next January. This year the price was increased four times, in January, by 5 %, in April by 8%, in July by 9% and in October by 6.5%.

The BpSun Staff

27.11.2008