The crisis in energy is not dependent on the Energy Ministry, but on fiscal policy and it's a problem of the Finance Ministry, which can be resolved through the application of a tax, said the former Minister of Public Finance from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Eugen Teodorovici, on Tuesday, at a debate on this topic organized by the parliamentary group of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR).
"I liked all that the 'Solidaritatea' Trade Union in Hunedoara proposed, there are some proposals there that I support, namely the application of a margin, of a mark-up. Everyone's accusing [Minister] Popescu from Energy (...). The solution isn't there, the Energy Minister has the obligation to uphold the policy, to make policy in the field of energy, to ensure on the basis of strategy the energy mix, to ensure the investment part (...) But the issue isn't in Energy, this is a matter of fiscal policy, it's somewhere else, it's an issue for the Finance Ministry... [the idea is] to apply a margin to the production price, of whatever, of x per cent. In Germany it's 24 something per cent this, let's say, tax. Let's say up to 30% where the state takes absolutely nothing from that company (...). Over 30%, what the company wants to add, so I'm not limiting profit, up to 30% I don't take anything. Over 30% I tax it, I don't know, 200%, whatever you add over," Teodorovici said.
He emphasized that there is need to define vulnerable consumers, which can benefit from the money collected from said tax.
According to him, it's not possible to reduce VAT from April 1, as some politicians announce, because the European Commission needs to be notified, Agerpres.ro informs.
"This possible solution with the margin can be applied throughout the market (...) That solution is to place a margin, compared to the producer price, in large stores in Romania, that's how Germany has it, it's 12% compared to producer price," the former Finance Minister announced.
In context, Petrisor Peiu, expert, mentioned that the Romanian state is the main actor on the energy market, "majority shareholder with over 80% for 60% of Romanian electricity production," saying that any short-term solution is an emergency one, while long-term solutions imply increasing production.
Deputy George Simion, co-chair of AUR, stated that he organized the debate on the topic of the energy crisis - which he says is provoked - in order to understand from experts, explain and propose measures to solve this problem.
Comentează