RO ruling coalition leaders claim they agreed on scheme to cap fuel price

The Government will reveal on June 23 a mechanism for "compensating" the end-user price of fuels, said prime minister Nicolae Ciuca, who also serves as the leader of the Liberal Party, and the president of the Social Democrats, Marcel Ciolacu, in an informal meeting with the media, Digi24.ro reported.

But no specific details of what seems to be a price-capping mechanism similar to those already enforced for the electricity and natural gas prices were revealed while the two parties keep placing the hot potato in each other's hands.

Subsequently, what the two referred to as the "compensation mechanism" will be included in a normative act and approved in a future Government meeting, the two leaders of the ruling coalition said.

The measure would be applied for a minimum period of three months, starting in July this year.

The compensation is to be financed from the budget, and the Government is considering that part of it should be covered by companies in the field, according to the statements of the two.

The Social Democrats reportedly "sketched the solutions [...]," according to a party's press release.

The Social Democrats said that the Ministry of Finance (controlled by Social Democrats) had provided the Ministry of Energy (under the Liberals' control) with "all the necessary data for a fair regulation in this field," and the Social Democrat experts are also ready to help the Ministry of Energy elaborate the scheme.

Instead, the Liberals have argued that it's rather the duty of the Finance Ministry to deal with the matter, since "there are a number of fiscal measures that can be used to mitigate the rise in fuel prices," and the Ministry of Finance (in the Social Democrats' responsibility) must seek levers it can use to induce a drop in pump prices.

(Photo: Pixabay)