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Eugenia Gusilov | Director

04Apr 2026

Digi24

I commented on Digi24, on April 4, the unusual situation at some gas stations in Romania, where it was noticed that premium diesel ended up being sold cheaper (9.84 lei/liter) than standard diesel (10.51 lei/liter). This could have 2 explanations. 1) The commercial one: the drivers who paid in advance for premium diesel have reoriented themselves and fuel up with the standard one. Thus, the respective gas stations were left with more unsold premium diesel. And they lowered the price of premium diesel to encourage drivers to buy the premium as well. 2) The technical one, which is related to the shelf life of petroleum products. Both diesel and gasoline are perishable products: gasoline (3-6 months), diesel (6-12 months). Of course, if it is added and stored in appropriate conditions, it can last for 1 year (gasoline) or 1.5-2 years for diesel fuel. In the discussed case, we may be dealing with an "accelerated sale" of a premium assortment, if the respective diesel is part of an older batch, whose validity period is approaching its expiration. #DieselPrice #FuelPrices

03Apr 2026

Euronews

Friday, April 3, on Euronews Romania about the $200/barrel scenario. I think we still have until there. So, not yet. There will be other stages ahead, including rationalization or the discussion about essential vs. non-essential activities (as in a pandemic). We should not panic, but understand that we may need to adapt, that is, to change our mobility habits until this crisis passes.

03Apr 2026

Friday, April 3, at B1.ro, discussing with Gabriela Mihai about the strangeness at the pump on Friday morning: 8.59 lei / liter of petrol at Rompetrol, in the conditions that Rompetrol brings the oil from Kazakhstan versus ... 9.22 lei / liter of petrol at Petrom stations, although the refined oil is predominantly domestic, extracted right here in Romania (65% of the refined oil at Petrobrazi is Romanian according to the statements of the company's bosses) Finally, we talked about the need to have a more moderate consumption in the next period. #FuelPrice #gasprices #crisismode

01Apr 2026

TVR Info

On Wednesday, April 1, on TVR News, in the program "Who makes the law", I explained how repeated and imperceptible increases in the excise tax over the last 2 years led (cumulatively) to a doubling of it, a treacherous tactic deliberately adopted in order not to alarm drivers. How did it come to seem normal to pay for the liter of fuel twice? At the restaurant, we do not pay the 300 lei bill and the 300 lei tip to the waiter.

31Mar 2026

Other

I just came from the "Paradoxical Romania" Podcast where I spoke with Mihai Tatulici about....everything. But especially about what we do with fuel prices. Why are they so high, is it normal to pay twice a liter of fuel (once to the company and once to the state)? Can we afford not to reform the state companies and not to close the harmful ones? How many more generations have to pay for the excesses of crony capitalism? In Romania, in addition to paradoxical fuel prices, we also have a liberalism that defends fiscal aggressiveness (although liberals should be the ones who lower taxes), a social democracy that advocates for the reduction of the excise tax and a sovereignty that campaigns for the reduction of the VAT on fuel to 15%. What can be more paradoxical than this?

30Mar 2026

My discussion today, at B1.ro, with Gabriela Mihai, while waiting for the government's decision regarding the design of the "flexible excise tax" - the variant of reductions granted with a pipette, which reflects the government's lack of desire to act in fiscal terms.

30Mar 2026

Digi24

Interaction from Monday, March 30, when the government had not yet decided by how much to reduce the excise duty and there was talk (according to sources) of a flexible excise duty, which would then decrease starting with 10% up to 45%, depending on the price of crude oil. On Tuesday, there was talk of a 10% excise tax reduction up to a maximum of 25%. On Wednesday, we learn that the excise tax reduction will only be between 5% and 15%. ... And today, Thursday, April 2, it was decided to reduce the excise duty on diesel by only ... 30 bani / liter, i.e. 10%. #diesel #excise duty #fuel price

30Mar 2026

Antena 3

On March 30, on Antena 3, talking about the government's plans for Monday. In the meantime, the excise tax reduction plans have also evolved: if at the end of the week there was talk of a reduction between 10% and 40%, on Monday we already learned that it would be a reduction of a maximum of 25%, and today (Wednesday, April 1), the Ministry of Finance announces that it is considering a reduction of only 5%-15% of the excise tax. Also on Monday, I learned from the prime minister that the discount will only apply to diesel. #FuelPrice #DieselPrice #romania

30Mar 2026

Other

Eugenia Gusilov's dialogue with Gabriel Bejan, for HotNews.ro about how the energy crisis caught us: the local specifics, the relationship and the energy problems in the Republic of Moldova, international context, if we can go back to Russia for oil and gas (no) and lessons for the future from this crisis.

30Mar 2026

Digi24

Dialogue from March 30, on Digi24, with Cosmin Prelipceanu, when the government had just announced that it would adjust the excise duty (albeit only on diesel) - a step forward, which I welcomed, hoping that we would see a more substantial reduction, of about 45%, not 11% at all (which was approved yesterday). To put things in context, the excise duty on diesel in Romania is 2.8 lei/liter. This means that, a reduction of: ... 45% would mean -1.26 lei / liter 25% would mean -0.7 lei / liter 15% would mean -0.42 lei / liter 5% would mean -0.14 lei / liter And what was voted, the reduction of excise duty by 11% means 0.3 lei / liter. Help, rather de minimis. The problem of excessive fuel taxation is far from being solved.

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