“On international transport routes, we decided to fill up in Austria. Diesel oil is 14% cheaper there than in Romania and a fill-up is enough to arrive in Romania and then go back to Austria. We feel the deepest impact on national routes, where we fill up domestically,” said Daniel Tanase, operating manager at Wim Bosman Romania, a logistics and transport company with revenue of EUR11 million annually and a fleet of 40 trucks.
Emil Ion, managing director of Wim Bosman Romania, also underlined the company has tried to dampen the impact of fuel tariff growth.
The “strategy” of filling up in other countries has not been embraced only by Wim Bosman, but by almost all transport companies.
“This is what we’re all doing, filling up outside Romania. We analyze the routes and fill up where prices are lower. Trucks have very large tanks, which allow for autonomy of up to 3,500 km and we no longer fill up in Romania, but in Slovenia, Austria, Luxembourg or France,” said Ion Lixandru, vice-president of the Association of Logistics Companies ARILOG.
In mid-April, after the introduction of the new tax, a liter of diesel oil cost EUR1.40 in Romania, EUR1.31 in Austria, EUR1.34 in Slovenia and EUR1.18 in Luxembourg, according to Oil Bulletin data.
Radu Dinescu, general secretary of the National Union of Road Transporters in Romania (UNTRR) showed, as early as December 2013, when the excise was brought under discussion for the first time, that the introduction of an additional fuel tax would not bring additional money to the budget, but could even trigger an income decline.
Romania annually consumes around 5.7-5.8 million tons of fuel, with diesel oil accounting for 75%, and the introduction of the new excise duty is likely to trigger a market decline by 1-3%, according to industry players.
The government hopes the excise duty will bring additional revenues of around EUR500 million to the state budget.
“Transporters are now massively filling up from abroad and the phenomenon is gaining scope. This ordinance through which transporters get back 4 of the 7 eurocents does not spur competition. On the other hand, all transport contracts include clauses related to inflation, the minimum or average salary in the economy and a clause linked to the price of fuel, so that transporters have the right to modify tariffs,” said Augustin Hagiu, transport consultant.
Paying back to transporters part of the additional fuel excise introduced on April 1 will slash revenues collected from excises by RON353 million this year, according to government estimates.
Through this year’s budget, which includes the prognosis on receipts from the fuel excise, the Government estimated it would attract a total of RON22.8 billion from excises, 15% more than last year.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)