More than half of the volume of energy sold by "Hidroelectrica" last year was based on direct contracts with private providers, the representatives of the company told us, in an interview. According to them, in 2011 "Hidroelectrica" sold about 10,591 GWh of electricity directly to provders. Last year the company sold 18,270 GWh.

The representatives of "Hidroelectrica" did not disclose the prices stipulated in the direct contracts, nor on what basis this amount of electricity was sold.

By mid-2011, the company had sold 59.9% of the total volume of electricity sold during that period, to private providers, the company's officials told us at the time. On the same occasion, the management of "Hidroelectrica" told us that the energy sold directly between January and June 2011 was sold on the basis of long term contracts concluded in the previous years.

The contracts through which the makers of electricity owned by the state sell electricity directly to providers or consumers, rather than through tenders on the regulated market, as required by a ministry order, are skirting the law.

On principle, in order to sell electricity directly, a derogation from the Minister's Order is required, the representatives of the Ministry of the Economy said.

The energy traded in a nontransparent manner is sold through secret ("confidential") contracts, or, as the energy makers call them, which do not disclose the names of the private providers or the price at which that energy was sold outside the regulated market.

However, last year, the Proprietatea Fund (FP) published the reports of the most important companies in which it owns shares, including "Hidroelectrica". According to data from the 2010 statement of "Hidroelectrica", published on the website of the Proprietatea Fund, in the year in question, the company sold over 66% of the energy it deliver