We are looking for solutions to support Rompetrol (Rompetrol Rafinare Company, member of KMG International, operates the Petromidia Năvodari Vega Ploiești refineries) with a presence in Romania, including diversifying the portfolio and growing it; taxation through IMCA (minimum turnover tax) is not something that the company’s board would be very happy to see, declared the Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan.

Asked about the situation of the Petromidia refinery, the largest in the country, where the state is a minority shareholder, which is affected by IMCA, Bogdan Ivan said: “We had several discussions. The new CEO of the company is a very practical and visionary man. Together with the experts from the ministry, we analyzed the figures. They do not look very good. Rompetrol is a large contributor to the Romanian state budget, the contribution to the state budget is in the order of hundreds of millions of lei annually.

“The Romanian state holds a 44.69% stake in this company and we are looking for solutions through which, together with the governmental partners in Kazakhstan, together with the KazMunaiGaz board, we can support this company with a presence in Romania and including the diversification of its portfolio and its growth. From a figures point of view, it is obvious that this tax is not one that the company’s board would be very happy to see”, according to Agerpres.

At the beginning of September, 12 business organizations in Romania drew attention to the fact that maintaining the minimum turnover tax (IMCA) represents a method of taxation that discourages investments, erodes competitiveness and affects both Romanian and foreign investments: “The representative organizations of the business environment in Romania express their concern about maintaining the minimum turnover tax (IMCA), a taxation that discourages investments, erodes competitiveness and affects both Romanian and foreign investments. In a global economic context marked by slowdown and a difficult budgetary context domestically, Romania needs coherent and predictable fiscal policies that stimulate private investments and productivity and structural reforms that eliminate waste and the causes of current imbalances. The inconsistency in the decision-making process, reflected by changes in position in a very short period of time, sends contradictory signals to investors and increases the perception of risk on the Romanian economy. Romania must reduce the deficit below 3% by 2030. This objective cannot be achieved exclusively through tax increases (at the individual or company level), but requires complementary measures: reducing state spending, increasing the level of collection and digitalizing the administration. These efforts can only be successful in parallel with sustainable economic growth, which this tax risks discouraging. Without concrete measures in these directions, achieving the objectives remains impossible.