The Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests has started the procedure for the elaboration of a draft piece of legislation aimed at capping the price of firewood and heating by-products, for a period of 6 months, informs the institution through a release sent on Thursday to AGERPRES.
"Following the decision of the governing coalition on Thursday, September 15, 2022, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests has started the procedure for the elaboration of a draft piece of legislation aimed at capping the price of wood and wood products used for heating, for a period of 6 months. After elaboration, the draft will be subject to the approval of the Government," the document reads.
In parallel with the capping of the sale price of the firewood, the draft piece of legislation will also include other measures to protect citizens, comprising the temporary limitation of exports of firewood and heating by-products, both at intra-Community level and outside the EU.
"In the context of the energy crisis that Europe is going through, as well as the short- and medium-term prospects, we are seeing a number of artificial increases in the prices of most of the raw materials used as heating fuel. In Romania, over 3 million households are heated with firewood or by-products. We believe that when whole categories of citizens risk becoming victims of unjustified price increases, in special situations and for limited periods of time, the state has the duty to intervene and block the possibility of such situations. Currently, our specialists are working to establish all the details, which we will present in a very short time," Environment minister Barna Tanczos said.