The head of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF), Lucian Heius, declares that if OMV refuses to pay the solidarity tax on surplus profit in Romania, the tax office will come up with a tax decision and will enforce it.

He said last night on a television station that ANAF will check all companies that fall under the provisions of Ordinance 186, adopted at the end of last year and which introduces this solidarity contribution for some energy companies. The emergency ordinance was approved to comply with European regulations.

Reporter: Costin Grigore - The reaction of the head of ANAF is one of many that appeared after the largest producer of crude oil and gas in Romania announced that it might not pay the excess profit tax in Romania, but in Austria.

The tax was introduced by the government in the final days of last year, under a European regulation approved in October 2022.

According to the emergency ordinance, the new tax applies to the extraction of hydrocarbons and refining, not to the sale in gas stations. The representatives of OMV Petrom say that they would not fall under the conditions established by this normative act, because they would have less than 75% of the turnover in the sectors defined by the law.

The finance minister believes that this is just a marketing statement by the oil company, and the situation will be clarified when the fiscal figures come in at the end of next month.

According to some energy experts, the state could collect around one billion euros from OMV alone, if it charges it with the new solidarity contribution.

Translated by: Radu Matei