Measures to mitigate fuel prices
The Government promises it will amend the measures aimed at limiting the increase in fuel prices.
Mihai Pelin, 02.04.2026, 14:00
The war in the Middle East, but especially the fuel crisis, is greatly complicating the global economy. In Romania, this painfully amplified the impact of the financial measures designed to curb the budget deficit. By the end of the week, the Government promises it will amend the measures aimed at limiting the growth of fuel prices. If those already adopted had a more symbolic impact, several variants are now being taken into account. Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare said two are now being considered: the gradual reduction of excise duties and the voluntary contribution mechanism. One of these variants could be adopted this week, Alexandru Nazare pointed out:
“We have prepared all the options, including the gradual reduction of the excise duty when international quotations and national prices rise. We have also prepared the scenario that was adopted in 2022, the voluntary contribution. We propose a sum to be matched by operators in the market, meaning the same mechanism as in 2022”.
The Minister also said the government is examining the solidarity fund, which targets the exceptional profits reported by fuel companies.
“Only the exceptional profits that take place in this period of crisis and which are not related to the current activity of the respective companies are being considered, and this is very similar to the 2022 regulation, which treated exactly this area of speculative profits in the energy sector. This is where we looked. Right now, we do not have a new European framework to give us the limits to work with, but we used the principles from 2022 so that we target only speculative profits. At present, we have the option of voluntary contribution or cutting the excise duty. In order to meet the Friday deadline, the coalition and government will address this matter jointly, as well as the issue of speculative profits”.
At the start of this week, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced that the excise duty on diesel will be reduced, because its price has increased the most due to the war in the Middle East, and it is normal the government helps this category of users. Then, the head of the Government also announced the intention to establish a solidarity fund to which companies that extract crude oil from Romania, refine it and then sell it here would contribute the majority of their exceptional profits. In his opinion, these companies made a profit without investing anything, merely based on the increase in prices.
The first measures adopted by the government to slow down the increase in fuel prices were felt somewhat on Monday, when in some filling stations, the price of diesel dropped slightly, below the 10 lei marker, given that in January, it sold for approximately 8 lei. (VP)
