The Bucharest City Hall has extended the public lighting contract with local company Luxten Lighting for another three months, after which the municipality will take over this activity through a newly established company, reports local Hotnews.ro.

Luxten, one of the most profitable companies in Romania, has been providing public lighting services in Bucharest since 1997.

The City hall estimates that public lighting in Bucharest would be 10% cheaper if the service were provided by the municipality’s company. However, in order to be able to provide this service, the municipal lighting company needs to be equipped and has to get several licenses and the necessary investments for this haven’t been made public. The City Hall has invested almost RON 20 million (EUR 4.3 million) in this company so far.

Bucharest City Hall paid a total of RON 357 million (EUR 77 million) to Luxten Lighting in 2015, 2016 and the first nine months of 2017 for revamping works, maintenance, and the used electricity.

editor@romania-insider.com