Romania sweetens solidarity contribution charged to energy companies

OMV Petrom will pay only EUR 300 mln instead of perhaps EUR 1 bln, and Black Sea Oil and Gas (BSOG) will be entirely waived the solidarity contribution after the Romanian lawmakers amended the draft law on this, at the request of President Klaus Iohannis, Economica.net reported.

While maybe deepening the budget execution problems, this should convince BSOG to drop the case against Romania and may prepare the ground for the investment decision OMV Petrom must make concerning Neptun Deep offshore project, much expected by the Romanian authorities.

The lawmakers totally scrapped the bill and came up with a simpler formula for the solidarity contribution: the companies extracting and refining oil (OMV Petrom is the sole such company in Romania) will pay a flat contribution of RON 350 (EUR 70) per ton. The formula is far from the [inapplicable] Recommendations drafted by the European Commission, but the spirit is the same.

In the case of BSOG, “the companies that carried out no relevant operations during 2018-2021 do not owe such solidarity contribution,” according to the amendments passed by the lawmakers.

While the original text passed by the MPs was excessively tough on BSOG, the new form is perhaps excessively mild – as a similar formula (per-quantity contribution) could have been levied.

For Romgaz and Rompetrol, the solidarity contribution is calculated under the original formula: 60% of the net profit above 120% of the average net profit derived in 2018-2021.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)