Valentina Siclovan, the Romanian Gaz de France SUEZ energy giant appointed to run the group's development activities in South-eastern Europe, says her tenure goals include the station running on gas in Borzesti, wind energy projects and involvement in the construction of Cernavoda reactors.
"Romania is strategically positioned for the group's development both domestically and regionally, which is also proven by GDF SUEZ's office location in Bucharest. Thus, from here projects for Greece, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslav countries and Albania will be coordinated," says Siclovan, vice-president for business development in SE Europe with the energy unit of GAZ de France SUEZ.
Siclovan, 48, took over her position last July. Though professionally she comes from the financial sector, Siclovan says a finance expert was needed for the development of the huge projects the group is carrying out.
The group has announced several projects domestically related to electricity generation, with the station running on gas that it plans to build together with Termoelectrica in Borzesti as the most advanced. It would involve investments of around 400m euros, and the partnership with the Romanian state was announced late last year.
Another major project the company is involved in is the one of reactors 3 and 4 of Cernavoda, whose value amounts to 4bn euros, with the group holding 9.15% of the project company.
"The group's strategy has remained unchanged on long term. A 30bn-euro investment level is targeted over three years. Ongoing projects are our priority. As regards the projects in Constanta or Galati, they're in the portfolio for this area, but they are not in advanced stage of development. It's only normal for companies to set up priorities in terms of investments during this period," says Siclovan.
"We're in talks with several developers in Dobrogea and other areas for the development of some wind energy parks," Siclovan adds.
She does not believe the current crisis can cause serious problems for large energy companies, but the problems are emerging on the medium segment. "The crisis we're going through is a liquidity crisis, and not a crisis of major companies' creditworthiness," Siclovan says.
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