Minister Miruță asks Energy and Finance for “clarity” in the case of Lukoil. “We can't pretend we're fighting what's happening in Russia by giving them fuel through additional doors”

The Minister of Economy, Radu Miruță, said on Wednesday on Digi24 that he is “concerned” about the Lukoil topic even if it does not fall within the attributions of the institution he leads, since “the economy is influenced by energy resources, the price of fuel, the price of energy”.

The USR Minister of Economy was asked about the statements of the PSD deputy Adrian Câciu, former Minister of Finance and European Funds, who had sent him in a post on Facebook that he should “take care of speculating in the area of ​​fuels, take care of the situation of stocks and domestic refining, take over the management of Lukoil or ask for the postponement of the entry into force of the American sanctions as the Bulgarians did and obtained”.

“You should know that I am concerned, like any Romanian, about what is going on outside my ministry. Mr. Câciu put his hand on his head like a bald man. This ministry deals with non-energy resources. This area is at the Ministry of Energy, but it concerns me, because the economy is influenced by energy resources, by the price of fuel, by the price of energy,” said Radu Miruță, on Wednesday, on Digi24.

He believes that the Ministries of Energy and Finance should provide “clarity” on the future of the Petrotel-Lukoil Refinery.

“I believe that the Government of Romania, with the responsible entities, and here the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Finance, that there are some debts, I understand, there, they must give clarity about what the Romanian state is doing with this (…). I think they are working. It is not my attribute to do this. I am convinced that both Mr. Minister Ivan (of Energy, no) and Mr. Minister Nazare (of Finance, no) have a concern with your piece. Lukoil has a debt. We I've seen the movie before, in Romania, when some did debt in this country, they left and I took the dust off their drum. I hope this doesn't happen here, and I think it won't happen,” added the Minister of Economy.

“It's a strategic element”

The minister said that “the Romanian state must take care of the value of the refinery and the capacity to produce”.

“Refining oil in a country and producing fuel, gasoline, diesel, is a value, it is a valuable element, it is a strategic element. You must not lose the installation that produces something strategic in a country where you have the respective product. From this desired point, to the point where we are today, in the opposite direction, it is a path that some responsible ministries are certainly analyzing”, continued Radu Miruță.

Asked if there is a danger of disruptions in the market, whether related to stocks or prices, Miruță answered: “It depends on the decisions. I understand that in the next month, in Bulgaria and in Romania, there are also stocks at this refinery on which the United States imposed a certain rule – and I think it is good that they imposed it.”

“We cannot pretend that we are fighting what is happening in Russia by giving them fuel through additional doors. Yes, if they were feeding on such activity, it must be stopped. It is not the only way to refine oil in Romania unless a Russian or Russian-controlled company does this work. From here, how does the state control it, I would like to get involved, but it is outside my square,” the official concluded.