The most important thing in a market is competition, and to solve a crisis problem you should cut from what you collect, namely excise taxes or VAT, declared, on Thursday, for Agerpres, the president of the Association of Energy Suppliers of Romania (AFEER), Laurențiu Urluescu.
“The most important thing is competition. In any market, whether we’re talking about energy or anything, it’s competition that solves the most. When you enter the market (with capping measures, etc. – ed.) it can’t work out well and you don’t solve the problem. So, to solve the problem, you cut back on your appetite (as a state – ed.), that is, you cut back on what you collect from the final product, namely excise duties, VAT and so on, or you have some targeted aid for those who need it or for those who, without help, would lead to a spread of inflation. There should be help for truly vulnerable consumers,” said Urluescu.
He emphasized that the aid granted by the state in the natural gas sector represents rather an effort on the part of energy producing companies.
“If it were electricity, similarly, vulnerable consumers should be helped, not everyone. In the oil sector, the problem lies with the one who delivers the final product to the consumer. In the natural gas sector, the fact that gas is provided at a price below the market price from the supplier automatically causes the supplier, adding its margin plus taxes, regulated tariffs, to bring the price down quite a bit. That is, we expect it to be just below the 0.31 bani ceiling. I repeat, all aid must be given to those who really need it. It’s nice for everyone, maybe it’s nice for some, but I don’t know if it makes sense to make an effort in this case. It’s not an effort by the state, but an effort by the companies that provide gas at a price well below the market price,” explained the AFEER president.
The government is expected to approve, in Thursday’s meeting, the draft emergency ordinance regarding the fuel crisis.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and representatives of employers’ associations held consultations on Wednesday on the intervention measures necessary to support the population and the economy, in the context of the increase in fuel prices as a result of the international situation.
The Prime Minister and the Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, presented, during this meeting, the draft ordinance that will prepare the intervention on the fuel market and ensure security of supply.
Bolojan stated that the package of government measures will have as principles the sharing of costs between the Government, the private sector and citizens and the adoption of intervention solutions with minimal collateral effects in the market, transparent and easy to apply.
At the same time, PSD requested the Executive to also adopt a reduction in excise duties, in addition to the measures already announced to combat the accelerated increase in fuel prices.
The representative trade union confederations refused to participate in the meeting of the National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue (CNT-DS), accusing the Government of simulating the consultation of social partners in the context of the energy crisis and of not allowing real time for the debate of measures. The trade unionists also presented a list of demands, requesting, among others, the reduction of VAT and excise duties on fuels.
On Wednesday, the Economic and Social Council (CES) also met, an institution that issued a negative opinion on the draft GEO regarding the fuel crisis. The opinion of this forum is consultative.