The Finance Ministry's analysis on fuel prices has been sent to the Government and a decision could be taken by the Executive in the coming days, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare said on Tuesday, attending a specialized event.
”Indeed, there are spectacular increases. We are concerned about the situation. Especially with regard to the fact that the stocks that producers and distributors have at their disposal today are stocks purchased in the past. As such, if you will allow me, all the agencies and all the institutions responsible for monitoring and controlling this situation in a context of crisis on the fuel market must act in this respect. As such, our analysis, the analysis of the Ministry of Finance has been forwarded to the Government and I am convinced that in the coming days a decision will be taken in this regard and we, the Ministry of Finance, are also part of this decision,” Nazare explained, quoted by Agerpres.
He noted that the price increase took place immediately after the start of the war although the stocks on hand at the time were not influenced by this decision having been purchased in the past.
„We saw a price increase that overlapped with the timing of the start of the war in the Middle East. Immediately. Clearly the stocks on hand at the time the war started were not influenced by this decision. These are stocks that were purchased in the past. I know that Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan has had talks with companies in the sector. I know that the Minister of Energy has also been very active, he has discussed with the companies. The Competition Council, ANAF, ANPC must act and I believe that in the coming days, based on the analysis, a decision will be taken to monitor prices much more strictly,” said Alexandru Nazare, asked by journalists about the evolution of fuel prices.
He said that the Ministry of Finance has not just analyzed but acted.
„The state aid scheme that was related to hauliers was updated immediately. We upgraded it so that the transporters would have an excise duty deduction of 0.85 cents, so that the increased price would not be passed on immediately and this would have happened to the transporters. So the Ministry of Finance since last week has taken a decision which is beneficial in this context. In order to continue, in order to declare the crisis situation in the energy area, in order to monitor prices, in order to monitor much more strictly the behavior of certain economic operators, the government has to take some measures which are stipulated in Ordinance 84 of 2022,” said Alexandru Nazare.
Asked to what extent political tensions affect the possibility of taking these measures, he said that „we have to be very careful because not every measure we take is a measure that will bring immediate results, that will be immediately reflected in prices or stabilize prices”.