Germany has an average salary of EUR2,196, a Belgian earns EUR2,426 per month, while a Romanian has an average salary of EUR350 per month, according to data centralized by ZF.
Romania is the fifth oil producer in Europe, covering around 40% of its internal needs from domestic production. The fuel excise duty of 7 eurocents per liter turned into a price hike of 0.41 lei, which has been entirely passed onto prices, with the most expensive liter of gas now getting close to the threshold of 7 lei.
“Why should we share the hike? The money gets exclusively to the government, not the company,” Manfred Leitner, member of OMV board of directors, said in late 2013 when asked whether the Austrian group, the majority stakeholder in Petrom, took into account internalizing part of this increase. Last year, Petrom made a record high profit of EUR1 billion. The company did not answer ZF’s questions.
KMG Rompetrol said in its turn that the duty is independent of its operating activity, so that it also raised fuel prices by RON0.41.
On the other hand, the state says the extra money will go into highways. In the 2004-2013 period, the Transport Ministry had EUR25 billion in its hands, but Romania now has only 645 km of highway.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)