The Competition Council is continuously monitoring the fuel market and is awaiting data for the past weeka period during which sharper increases in pump prices were observedand will analyze the figures and publicly present its findings, the institution's president, Bogdan Chiritoiu, told AGERPRES on Tuesday.
"We are constantly monitoring the fuel market and requesting information directly from companiesin addition to the data submitted periodically for the Price Monitorwhile also analyzing this information within a European context. (...) We are awaiting the data for the past week, a period during which sharper increases in pump prices were observed. We will analyze them and publicly present our findings. In the meantime, a new mechanism for capping commercial markups on the fuel market has been introduced and promulgated by the country's president," said Chiritoiu.
The head of the competition authority does not rule out the possibility that some operators took advantage of the time remaining before the new mechanism for capping commercial markups comes into effect.
"It is possible that these increases are driven by oil supply disruptions in the Black Sea region resulting from the war in Ukraine. At the same time, we do not rule out the possibility that some operators took advantage of the time remaining before the new mechanism for capping commercial markups comes into effect. As you know, while this mechanism is in place, the authorities have clear tools at their disposal to verify compliance with legal provisions and to sanction any violations," explained Bogdan Chiritoiu.
He emphasized that during the period when the commercial markup on fuels was cappedspecifically from April to Junepre-tax prices in Romania were 10-15% lower than in other European Union states, whereas fuel prices on the Romanian market typically hovered 2-5% below the European average.
"The fact that the gap relative to the EU average was significantly wider during this period indicates that the measure adopted by the authorities benefited Romanian consumers. Recent data we have analyzed show that, even after the price cap was lifted, fuel prices in Romania remained below the levels recorded in other European countries," Chiritoiu added.
President Nicusor Dan announced on Tuesday that he had signed the decrees promulgating the laws on declaring a crisis situation in the petroleum products market and on extending the deadline for applying the reduced VAT rate to the purchase of homes.
"Today, I signed the promulgation decrees for two pieces of legislation important for the country's economic stability and the protection of Romanians' incomes: the law declaring a crisis situation in the petroleum products market and the law extending the deadline for applying the reduced VAT rate on home purchases," wrote Nicusor Dan on X.
According to the head of state, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and extreme instability in the international oil market have led to rapidly rising fuel prices, including in our country.
"Rapid state intervention was once again necessary because this price hike translates into rising costs throughout the chain for citizens and businesses alike, with direct effects on purchasing power, economic competitiveness, and the stability of critical national sectors," the President stated.
He added that the protective measures established by this law include declaring a state of crisis in the oil market, reducing the excise duty on diesel, capping commercial markups, temporarily banning diesel exports without prior approval from the Ministry of Energyin order to prioritize domestic consumptionand introducing a solidarity contribution for major oil companies.
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