Romanian state to gain EUR 8.8 bln this year from rising energy prices, suppliers say

Given the rising prices, the Romanian state is to gain more than RON 43 billion (some EUR 8.8 billion) this year from the taxes and dividends paid by the energy sector, according to Laurentiu Urluescu, the president of the Romanian Energy Suppliers Association (AFEER), quoted by Agerpres.

The additional revenues to the state budget would come from the VAT applied to higher invoices, over-taxation of producers and dividends.

“In the first quarter of this year, the state would collect almost RON 11 billion, of which RON 2.9 billion additional VAT, RON 5.3 billion from the over-taxation of producers - Hidroelectrica, Nuclearelectrica, Romgaz, OMV Petrom, and RON 2.6 billion from dividends. Multiplying by four, it turns out that for the whole year, the Romanian state collects over RON 43 billion or even more given that prices have increased in the meantime compared to the first quarter,” the AFEER official said.

At the same time, he said the state had covered 99% of the subsidies pledged under the ‘cap and subsidy’ scheme applied between November 2021 and March 2022 to help the population and companies cope with the rising energy prices. However, so far, the suppliers did not receive any compensation for the period beginning in April.

“For the November-March period, we received the first money after seven months; we are now four months into the new compensation scheme, and we hope to receive the money faster than for the first scheme. And this happens despite the law saying that we must receive the money within 45 days. The authorities say the suppliers were slow to send the required information, but our interest is to complete the process and get the money quickly. If we were late, it was because of the ambiguities,” Urluescu said.

According to him, the situation is quite challenging for the suppliers, especially as banks already see the energy sector as risky.

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