Romanian Government has announced that it will also subsidize the purchase of fuel oil from centralized heat producers. Thus, the city halls in the localities where the local producer of heating medium for central heating also operates on fuel oil will be able to receive, “on the basis of a duly justified request”, money from the state budget to cover 50% of the difference between the purchase prices of fuel oil from each of the months of November 2021 – March 2022 and the same prices from each of the months of the similar interval of one year ago (November 2020 – March 2021), according to a new emergency ordinance, according to Profit.ro.

The normative act also introduces the express provision that the mayoralties that ended last year with a budget surplus can use it to ensure the supply of thermal energy this winter, by derogation from the Law on local public finances.

Initially, the Government intended that the additional subsidy for gas purchases could benefit only the municipalities without budget surplus, but the provision was removed from the final form of the GEO, after protests from some mayors in this situation, including Timisoara.

“That phrase did not remain in the final form presented to the Government,” said the Minister of Development, Cseke Atilla, after the meeting of the Executive.