More than two-thirds of Romanians (69.7%) believe that energy prices have increased as a result of wrong decisions taken by the state authorities, according to the Energy Barometer, released on Wednesday by INSCOP Research.
At the same time, 28.2% believe that the price increases in energy come as a result of developments in the international markets.
“There were a lot of debates on this topic about liberalization, about the consequences of liberalization and they fueled this type of opinion, also enhanced by the high degree of distrust of the population in the authorities,” said Remus Ştefureac, director of INSCOP, according to Agerpres.
At the same time, 52% of Romanians believe that the bill capping measures are ineffective, and 43.1% say that they are effective.
More than 42% of those interviewed agree that the measure to reduce the fuel price by 0.50 RON per liter was felt in the drivers’ pockets, while 52.8% disagree with this statement.
“The level of trust in the EU regarding taking effective decisions to stop the increase in energy prices is quite low, only 23% have a lot of trust and a lot. The explanation can be related to the fact that at the EU level they could not take sufficient measures to counteract the increase in energy prices,” Ştefureac also said.
Green energy enjoys the consistent support of the population: 53% of Romanians believe that renewable energy can be a solution to increase the energy independence of the country.
At the same time, 59.6% of Romanians would agree that our country should help member countries with gas, if needed, while 38.7% disagree. At the same time, 78% agree to help the Republic of Moldova with gas.
“A large percentage, 84.3%, claim that they agree with the return to the regulated energy market. This type of attitude is connected to this context, that of the energy crisis, and liberalization has been quite demonized. In the long term , the free market, where competition has its say, obviously can do more good,” added the INSCOP director.
The survey data was collected between November 13-22, 2022, on a sample of 1,174 people and has an error of 2.8%.