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04Aug 2026

Digi24

Tuesday, August 4, at Digi24, pending the presidential promulgation of the ordinance that re-establishes the state of emergency in the fuel market. The maximum reduction possible through "dynamic excise" is 25%. The discount is applied to the excise duty, which is 2.8 lei/liter of diesel, so 2.8 lei * 0.25 = 0.7 lei (or 70 money) To which we also add the 21% VAT, so 0.7 lei*0.21 = 0.15 lei ... The maximum possible reduction: 70 money + 15 money = 85 money But the government said last week that, for the beginning, it will apply a 10% reduction in excise duty, so: 28 bani + related VAT (6 bani) = total discount: 34 bani / liter of diesel. After our discussion, the president also promulgated the ordinance.

03Aug 2026

TVR Info

Monday, August 3, on TVR News, about social solidarity in times of crisis, differentiated hourly rates, and the crises that catch us (again) with unrealized investments and postponed works.

02Aug 2026

Digi24

My intervention on Sunday, August 2, at Digi24, about the stress test (in real time) that Romania and our energy system will go through in the next 10 days. The solutions are disastrous and show only one thing: the fact that those responsible for energy in Romania have not done their homework at all in the last 15 years!

02Aug 2026

On B1.ro, on August 2, about the ongoing energy crisis, in which the drought affects the production of electricity from hydro and nuclear. However, what brought us to this point is the inability of the Romanian state to plan, design and execute new industrial projects ON TIME. Energy security must be thought of in layers, on several levels: if you have to stop a nuclear power plant, which capacities take over your production? ... When the coal capacities were withdrawn, the plan was that they would be replaced with NEW gas plants. Only, they were not completed! Inventory: - Iernut (Romgaz), 430 MW: it was supposed to be put into operation in 2020. It is not ready even today. - Mindia (Jordanian investment), 1,700 MW: completion in 2026. That project that was declared a few years ago "a project of strategic importance". It is not activated. - Islanita (850 MW) and Turceni (475 MW): 2 gas projects of the Oltenia Energy Complex for which it received 900 million euros (European money from the Modernization Fund) for Romania to "put something in place of the coal groups" that were withdrawn. The new gas plants at Isalnita and Turceni were supposed to be ready in 2025! Total (new) gas capacity that was supposed to be available at this moment: 430 MW (Iernut) + 1,700 MW (Mintia Mass) + 850 MW (Isalnita) + 475 MW (Turceni) = 3,455 MW With 3,455 MW new connected to the energy system, the temporary shutdown of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant (1,400 MW) would not have been a problem.

31Jul 2026

Digi24

On Friday, July 31, Digi24, I spoke with Valentin Chisoceanu about our other pain: the price of diesel. At this moment, what is happening at the pump in Romania has nothing to do with the international Brent quotation, but rather has regional and local reasons behind it. Regional: ... - no more diesel is exported from Russia since July 8. Even if these quantities did not come directly to the European market, the regional market was still supplied. The disappearance of Russian diesel from the global market increases the price. Moreover, Russia is competing with us (importing countries, including Romania) to buy diesel for their domestic market! Local: - fuel import-export structure. Romania is a country that imported 2 million tons of diesel fuel last year alone. - the 3rd largest refinery in Romania (Petrotel-Lukoil) has been closed since November 2025, so it does not refine crude oil, therefore it does not produce gasoline, diesel, kerosene - quantities that used to supply the domestic market and which now have to be imported. - the government's fiscal policy, which invokes European legislation not to reduce diesel taxes. However, Poland (EU member state) reduced the VAT on diesel from 23% to 8% this year, between April 1 and June 30, 2026.

31Jul 2026

Euronews

On Friday, July 31, at Euronews Romania, we talked about the state of emergency, what it helps us with and why it is established. Basically, we are preparing to manage an unpleasant situation. Unfortunately, the Romanian state has lost its project management capacity for large infrastructure projects. We see delays upon delays in most projects where our long-dreamed "energy security" should have come from. In my opinion, in the immediate plan, the solution for survival is individual autonomy. The 350,000 prosumers that Romania currently has (totaling a total installed capacity of almost 4 GW) - this is how we compensate for the state's helplessness and survive the incompetence of the state companies, which should have delivered on time the projects that would have ensured our peace today.

30Jul 2026

Digi24

My discussion on Thursday, July 30, on Digi24, with Anca Orheian, so before the state of alert is instituted, about how we got into this situation, that we have to stop the nuclear power plant and what that means. The unacceptably long delays in the development of investment projects in the last 8-10 years, investments especially in the area of state companies, which were not made and which, if they had been made on time, would have allowed us to go through this new crisis otherwise (without problems).

30Jul 2026

TVR Info

A longer discussion, from yesterday, July 30, on TVR News in which we went through several topics: from the controlled shutdown of the reactors at Cernavoda, to how the prices on PZU reacted, to the storage we don't have and the prosumers we have (around 350,000, with a cumulative installed capacity of almost 4 GW) despite the fact that they were sabotaged at every step.

29Jul 2026

Digi24

Yesterday, July 29, on Digi24, about how our state prefers "fix-solutions" instead of dealing with systemic problems and real solutions. Why is Romania the only country in Europe where the Lukoil refinery is closed from November 2025? Given that other countries (Bulgaria, Serbia, Germany) found formulas to ensure the continuity of the operation of Russian refineries on their territory, despite the American sanctions from October last year. It's no wonder that our diesel prices increase, if we have to import from other countries (therefore, more expensive) everything that Lukoil refines in Romania. How long will this refinery remain closed? Because this is also a factor that pushes fuel prices up in Romania.

28Jul 2026

Tuesday, July 28, at B1.ro, in dialogue with Gabi Mihai about: - the risk of shortages - the dynamic excise tax adopted yesterday for fuel Romania is free to try this tool as well, if it wants to gain experience with the "dynamic excise" (which is a first for our country). Personally, I think that this formula rather reflects the government's preference to protect its income from the state budget than a real concern to help the drivers of this country. ... Why am I saying this? The excise duty on diesel is 2.8 lei/liter. This means that a 5% reduction in excise duty = 14 money, a 10% reduction = 28 money, and the maximum possible reduction is 25% = 70 money. That is, in the best case, we will pay an excise tax of 2.1 lei/liter instead of 2.8 lei/liter (as it is now). And this will have to be calculated and re-evaluated once every 2 weeks, that is, it is more difficult to manage administratively than if it had been a fixed 50% reduction of the excise tax (which would mean - 1.4 lei/liter) without recalculations every 2 weeks. But, even so, it is good that the government adopted at least something in terms of a helpful measure than the option in which it would have done nothing.

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