Romania no longer relies on Russia’s oil, and the ban
\non imports from that country, which took effect on Monday, will not affect us
\nbecause oil companies have identified alternative resources and are no longer
\nbuying crude from Moscow. The announcement was made by the energy minister
\nVirgil Popescu at a press conference, in which he reiterated that Bucharest has
\nenough oil and natural gas reserves to see this winter through. Moreover, the
\nminister said, ever since last week oil companies and refineries in Romania
\nhave only processed non-Russian oil.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Virgil Popescu: Romania has no natural gas supply problems,
\nand you may have noticed that it is gradually becoming a regional natural gas
\nhub. Gas is being taken via Romania to Moldova, to Ukraine and to Hungary. In
\nother words, Romania is on its own path, on the European path, it is a natural
\ngas producer and a future natural gas exporter and will ensure both Romania’s
\nand the entire region’s energy security. We have no gas supply problems this
\nwinter as well. And Romanians must know that we have no problems in terms of
\nthe oil reserves, of fuels, of natural gas and of electricity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In turn, the general manager of the Transgaz
\nNatural Gas Transport Corporation, Ioan Sterian, vowed that there is
\nsubstantial domestic gas output and that Romanians have no reasons to fear they
\nwill be left without resources this winter. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the shortage of firewood for
\nhousehold heating was discussed on Monday in the Chamber of Deputies. The
\nenvironment minister, T\u00e1nczos Barna, was invited to Question Time by the AUR
\nparty in opposition, to speak about the problems caused by the cap on firewood
\nprices, and to explain why the legal framework is unchanged although the ruling
\ncoalition promised they would amend a previous government order. T\u00e1nczos Barna said
\nthe government’s priority was to protect citizens, but admitted that the
\neffects of the emergency order were not as desired. According to T\u00e1nczos Barna,
\nthe Romsilva National Forestry Corporation and private owners made available
\nthis year over one million cubic metres of firewood more than in 2021. He also
\nadded that the price of firewood varies from one region to another, which is
\nwhy it was capped at EUR 80 per cubic metre, and Romsilva also took measures
\nto ensure firewood for next year as well. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
T\u00e1nczos Barna: We have put together an investment plan under
\nwhich we will create 178 new firewood storage facilities and will upgrade the 240
\nexisting centres, operated by Romsilva. In the next 2-3 years we will have an
\ninvestment budget of over EUR 60 million.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nAUR leader George Simion said the
\nminister failed to meet the requests for the emergency order to be amended so
\nthat all citizens may benefit from firewood irrespective of where they live. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
And USR party, also in opposition, accused the
\nenvironment minister of lacking the courage to take the right measures for
\ncitizens, although the country has all the necessary experts and resources. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania does not depend on Russian oil, Bucharest says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":90052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[28918,37067,30821,32644,34989,30448],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-93953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-energy","tag-firewood","tag-gas","tag-independence","tag-oil","tag-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n