The acquisition of the Doicesti site for Romania's small modular reactor (SMR) project involved a payment far above market value, driven by the refactoring of costs previously excluded by the evaluator, shows a report by the Prime Minister's Control Body released on Monday.

For the nuclear plot (of approximately 52 ha), joint-venture project company RoPower paid EUR 46 million, compared with a KPMG-assessed market value of EUR 24 million. The report notes that private project partner Nova Power & Gas had earlier paid EUR 2.8 million for the same land, while the seller GECO did not carry out the demolitions contracted at the end of 2021.

The report states that Nova was selected as RoPower's partner mainly because it owned the land and belonged to the E-Infra group, but concludes that 'neither argument justified the association'.

According to the Control Body, Nova did not contribute the land as an in-kind asset but sold it to RoPower more than two years later for a sale price of EUR 24 million, plus EUR 22 million refactured costs (VAT included), resulting in a total of EUR 46 million - 16 times the amount paid by Nova.

The purchase was financed through Nuclearelectrica loans to RoPower. The refactured amount remained unpaid at the time of the audit.

The report argues that the Investor Agreement of Sept. 2022 envisaged acquiring land from a shareholder under conditions that would normally trigger mandatory procedures under company law (independent valuation, shareholder approval, publication). Yet the clause requiring purchase at the seller's book value contradicted these rules. As a transaction between affiliated parties, fiscal law also required a market-value price.

The Control Body says legal safeguards were bypassed by: initially setting the price at Nova's book value; later adding 'market value plus refacturing'; delaying the transaction beyond two years, thus avoiding stricter legal provisions.

The government notes that, under the logic of the partnership, the land should have been Nova's contribution justifying its 50% stake, not an asset sold for profit. Nova still holds 50% of RoPower, despite having contributed only EUR 4 million in share capital.

The report concludes that Nova's conduct resulted in 'the sale of the land and additional refacturing of works (...) to create only the appearance of a market-based transaction', and that equal partnership shares lacked 'logical or economic justification'.

The Control Body recommends that the Energy Ministry review the decision to associate Nuclearelectrica with Nova Power & Gas (NPG) for the SMR project, including compliance with national and EU rules on state intervention. It also calls for examining potential contractual or administrative liability for officials who negotiated and approved the Investor Agreement, as well as for Nuclearelectrica representatives who failed to assess the legality and economic rationale of the land-acquisition process.

The report further argues that NPG did not demonstrate superior financial or technical capacity compared with other private entities and cannot be considered a sole investor, since it did not contribute the land as an in-kind asset. The Investor Agreement had from the outset envisaged a commercial sale of the land.

RoPower Nuclear, founded in 2022, is the project company developing Romania's first SMR plant at Doicesti, owned equally by Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Andreea Marinescu; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)