The state could help the refineries by temporarily giving up bioethanol imports, said former Energy Minister Răzvan Nicolescu.

“It is a type of measure that should be adopted urgently. Otherwise, we risk a shutdown of refineries and rising unemployment,” he said.

“In Romania we have three large refineries. Fortunately, the one of Petromidia was stopped. At the pump we are witnessing a drastic drop (in prices)… We no longer have storage space, and the state could help by removing bioethanol for a period of time, which is imported,” said Nicolescu, in a debate moderated by Daniel Apostol and Adrian Mănuțiu.

“On the investment side, there are some blocked, I mean the ones from the Black Sea. If these investments would have been now in progress, people could have worked on the platforms without jeopardizing their health… the project should be relaunched urgently… I am worried in the short run about refineries and in the short and medium term about the situation in the Black Sea,” said Nicolescu.

Autor: Bogdan Tudorache

Active in the economic and business press for the past 26 years, Bogdan graduated Law and then attended intensive courses in Economics and Business English. He went up to the position of editor-in-chief since 2006 and has provided management and editorial policy for numerous economic publications dedicated especially to the community of foreign investors in Romania. From 2003 to 2013 he was active mainly in the financial-banking sector. He started freelancing for Energynomics in 2013, notable for his advanced knowledge of markets, business communities and a mature editorial style, both in Romanian and English.