Abstract: The invention relates to a valve operating apparatus comprising a ferromagnetic device connected to the valve and displaceable on a course by which at one end the valve is in the closed position and at another end it is in the open position. The displacement command is performed by means of a first and a second electromagnet and of springs so that the device will be near to the first electromagnet for the closed position and near to the second electromagnet for the open position. Each electromagnet comprises a permanent magnet holding the device at the corresponding end of its course in the absence of current in the winding of the electromagnet. To change the valve from its open position to its closing position or vice versa, a defluxing pulse is applied to the winding of the second or of the first electromagnet opposing the effect of the permanent magnet, the change being carried out, after this pulse, by the sole action of the spring means.