Romania to cut the excise duty for diesel and levy “solidarity tax” on oil companies

Update: The government adopted on Friday, April 3, the emergency ordinance to temporarily reduce the excise duty on standard diesel and introduce a solidarity contribution on revenues from the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in Romania, News.ro reported. Government spokesperson Ioana Dogioiu confirmed that the diesel excise will be cut by RON 0.30 per liter (RON 0.36 including VAT) for the duration of the fuel market crisis.

Initial story: The Ministry of Finance in Romania has published for consultations the draft of emergency measures designed to protect fuel consumers, which envisages reducing the excise duty on diesel and setting up a “solidarity contribution” charged to the domestic crude oil producers – mainly OMV Petrom. The logic of the solidarity contribution seems to be offsetting the decrease in budget revenues generated by the lower excise duty.