“Very likely” the fuel excise will also be reduced, announces Ilie Bolojan: “There are two working hypotheses”
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said, in an interview for G4Media, on Thursday, that the emergency ordinance adopted by the Government regarding fuel prices is only “a first package”, and next week there will “very likely” be a decrease in the excise tax.
The prime minister said that the working group established at the level of the Government to manage the fuel crisis will have a new meeting on Monday morning “and we propose that by the end of Monday we will come up with a second measure that would mean an intervention to reduce the taxes that are set for fuels”.
Bolojan: A reduction in fuel excise duty, the easiest solution
Asked if he is leaning towards lowering the excise duty or rather the VAT, he explained that a reduction in the value added tax risks leading to an infringement procedure from the European Commission, while a reduction in the excise duty “is the easiest solution and we will very likely go for this aspect”.
“There are two working hypotheses that will be analyzed in the coming days,” said Bolojan.
He said that the Government must evaluate, on the one hand, the capacity that the Romanian state can support in reducing the excise tax, including from the perspective of the period of applicability.
“Also, a second principle is related to a fair cost for everyone, meaning that practically everything that the additional state budget collected on the value-added tax component this month, as a result of this increase, will be returned to the citizens of Romania through the reduction in excise taxes that will be made”, added the prime minister.
Ilie Bolojan mentioned, at the same time, that the measure must “not have collateral effects”.
“If you come up with other measures or if you don't think about them properly, there is a risk of generating supply blockages (…). You can also create strong syncope on the import side of fuel, crude oil or diesel, for example, where the demand is much higher than gasoline on the Romanian market”, Prime Minister Bolojan explained.
The Intelligent Energy Association, about the ordinance adopted on Thursday: “The state is only simulating the intervention”
On Thursday, the government adopted an emergency ordinance that provides for the capping of the commercial addition at the average level of 2025 for the entire chain – from refining, to sales, exports of diesel and crude oil only with the consent of the authorities and fines of up to 10% of the turnover for those who will not comply with these rules.
The measures adopted by declaring the state of crisis on the fuel market will be in force from April 1 to June 30, with the possibility of extension.
However, some specialists claim that the normative act is almost useless.
“There are times when the state intervenes firmly, assumes costs and changes reality. And there are times — more and more often — when the state only simulates the intervention. This Emergency Ordinance belongs, unequivocally, to the second category. It is not a real economic measure. It is a political gesture wrapped in technical language, designed not to change the market, but to calm public perception,” claims the Intelligent Energy Association, in an analysis.
