* The privatization of OPCOM and the creation of an energy market from scratch, among the proposals submitted by the Austrians to the Government

The Romanian energy sector seems to be drawing increasing attention from the international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, which recently announced, the sale of minority stakes in "Hidroelectrica" and "Nuclearelectrica", as well as of the Bucharest representatives of some of the countries that have political and economic interests in Romania.

Michael Schwarzinger, the US ambassador in Bucharest, yesterday expressed his support for the need to create a Romanian energy exchange, starting from the premise that such an institution would allow the transparent formation of prices for various energy products. According to the Austrian ambassador this would be a preliminary requirement for private investors to enter the energy sector.

Austria has invested about 9 billion Euros in Romania. Austrian investors are present in key sectors, such as energy, where OMV holds 51% of "Petrom", and in the banking sector, where "Erste" controls about 60% of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR).

"One characteristic of the Romanian market for natural gas is the fact that three quarters of the gas that is used comes from local sources. Gas produced in Romania is sold at price that differs highly from that of imported natural gas. Therefore, mechanisms should be implemented which would allow transparent and indiscriminate access to cheap natural gas. Aside from that, there is also the need to implement the internal legislation of the European Union which is waiting to be transposed into the Romanian laws", the Austrian ambassador said yesterday, at the opening of the trading session of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Yesterday, he also supported the need to privatize state owned comp