Worries over prices of fuel

Bucharest authorities analyze energy legislation and a strategy on the exploitation of mineral resources

Daniela Budu, 31.10.2022, 02:00

The Bucharest government continues, this week, to analyze the energy legislation, in an attempt to control the increase in prices in the field, and is also working on a strategy for non-energy mineral resources. At the same time, the Ordinance on capping the price of firewood comes back to the attention of the senators from the specialized committees, after the document drawn up by the government triggered a crisis on the market. With regard to energy, the executive is analyzing the draft of a normative act, developed by the relevant ministry, which would regulate, under certain conditions, the internal market.

The State Secretary with the Ministry of Energy, Dan Drăgan, says that the market has been somewhat regulated, but that new measures are being sought for the future as well. Dan Drăgan:

“At this moment, we are analyzing all opportunities, all options and scenarios that can be prepared in case such a measure becomes necessary. The market is already somewhat regulated, through the ceilings that were established for both electricity and natural gas. As I said, we are evaluating certain scenarios that we could implement and we are also in discussions with partners in the government, namely the Ministry of Finance, to see the sources needed for these payments.”

Also this week, the Romanian Government is preparing the strategy for non-energy mineral resources – Horizon 2035. The normative act aims to find mineral resources that can be exploited, to create a national copper industry, to produce finished products with high added value and to ensure the superior exploitation of graphite, for the production of batteries in the country.

As regards the crisis on the Romanian wood market, after capping the price at approximately 80 Euro per cubic meter, firewood and derived products have disappeared from the market. In this context, specialists in the field point out that the capped price is not realistic, because it does not cover costs such as processing or transport. Moreover, the representatives of the ProLemn Association demand the reduction of VAT to 5% for all wooden products intended for home heating, given that the price cap has created severe blockages in the market.

According to them, there cannot be a single price valid for all firewood distribution chains. Most likely, the Ordinance on the firewood price cap will be amended by the senators so that the vulnerable categories are supported during the winter period. The Save Romania (USR) Senator Aurel Oprinoiu explains what this support will consist of:

“To come up with a system of vouchers, in which we can help the vulnerable ones, as we did for other categories of citizens of Romania in this period of crisis, with a ceiling and, obviously, with support for electricity or gas.”

The senators must come up with a solution these days, otherwise the ordinance will pass silently in the current form in the Senate, which is the first chamber notified. (MI)