Delegate Minister for Energy Razvan Nicolescu (photo) addressed the Finance Minister Ioana Petrescu a letter, claiming the revision of the taxation system for hydrocarbons is needed, starting January 1, 2015, so that “the Romanian state should collect more money than from the royalties’ system.”
The letter is dated November 28. The document was made public by a commercial television, but the minister expressed dissatisfaction towards the ministry’s press department for the release. Nicolescu said this is a “last warning” to the department. However the minister maintains his stand on the matter.
“I’ve noticed, following talks, that everybody is waiting for a new system of taxation/royalties starting with January 1, 2015, as well as that through this very system, the Romanian state should collect more than from the current system of royalties, extra tax on gas and the tax on mineral resources,” the letter reads.
President Traian Basescu accused the government on Thursday of stirring instability and lack of predictability on the energy market, as it delayed for one year the royalties’ issue, while the companies are not aware if the extra tax on gas and the tax for mineral resources are to be cancelled, or are they to merge.