“Hidroelectrica is closing the 2007 financial year with profits four times higher than initially estimated and double compared to 2006, in spite of a very dry year,” according to a company release.

Energy production dropped some 12 percent last year, to 15.6 million MWh, from 17.7 million MWh in 2006, due to drought.

At the end of last year, the company’s General Manager, Traian Oprea, was estimating some 30 mln in gross profits and some €599.2 mln in turnover. Company officials were not available for details on the company’s actual turnover.
The company, controlled by the Romanian state through its Economy and Finance Ministry, is to focus on investments to modernize its production unit, in the 2008-2011 period, and will associate with private companies for brown-field projects.

Last year, Hidroelectrica covered some 25 percent of the national energy consumption.