Energy bills, a concern for the political class
In Romania, the state has decided to support those who cannot afford to pay their electricity and gas bills as of November 1s
Corina Cristea, 24.09.2021, 13:50
Romanians are worried about the coming of winter, as the National Energy Regulatory Authority has announced that the price of natural gas will be very high. The reason is partly due to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which directly connects Russia with Germany, bypassing Ukraine. In order to force the commissioning of this gas pipeline, which is still awaiting certain approvals, Moscow has reduced Europe’s supply of natural gas, which leads to higher prices on the stock exchanges.Another cause would be the fact that last year, during the pandemic, gas tariffs were the lowest in Romania in the last 30 years.
The increase in energy and gas prices is generated by a combination of factors, says Prime Minister Florin Cîţu, explaining that the liberalization of the market was done too late and at a time when prices were rising throughout Europe. Moreover, investments in these sectors have not been made for years.The head of the executive has explained that decisions will be made in support of the domestic and non-domestic consumers this winter, but a mechanism must be created to work in exceptional situations like this, and thus the government will no longer have to intervene by ordinance.
Florin Cîţu: Compensation is moving forward, over November 1 – May 31, everything is set, so Romanians don’t need to worry; It is an exceptional situation throughout Europe, but I want to make sure that they will not be left to fend for themselves this winter, that we have these solutions for them and here I am talking about both domestic and non-domestic consumers. The prime minister has specified that solutions will be found for small companies as well, because otherwise the prices of products will increase, with effects on inflation and interest rates. Meanwhile, the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), has submitted a bill to parliament aimed at supporting SMEs to cope with rising gas and electricity prices. The leader of the Social Democrats has explained that the document provides for either a mechanism for compensating the bills by 50 percent, or the possibility of deducting the amount from the profit tax for those without debts to the state.
Marcel Ciolacu : We’ve discussed a bill that would come with concrete support measures for SMEs, for a period, as is normal, limited in time, but which would help them deal with this wave of price increases, especially with regard to energy. At the moment, we are submitting the bill and we will have discussions with the other parties as well.
Electricity prices will remain high in Romania for at least the next 4-5 years, as long as we use coal, said Bogdan Chiritoiu, president of the Competition Council. Speaking at a debate on energy issues, he referred to the EU policy of making polluting energy expensive, unattractive and explained that as long as Romania and other EU countries will need expensive coal-fired energy, electricity prices will rise. For gas, however, expectations are that the price will go down a bit, along with higher deliveries from Russia. (MI)
