The state will spend at least 5 billion lei during the cold season of the year for heat subsidies. The sum can rise if the natural gas rate is higher than 23 lei per cubic meter. Minister of Labor and Social Protection Marcel Spatari assured that most of the citizens will get subsidies for gas and heat. He said that if the price of electrical energy rises suddenly, the Government will partially cover also the electricity bill, IPN reports.
The minister noted that all the citizens in October need to fill out the energy vulnerability form and indicate the number of family members, the family’s budget and the heating method. Based on these data, the state will calculate the energy vulnerability level of each family so as to decide the size of subsidies. The state could guarantee a ceiling rate for each of the four energy vulnerability categories.
“The system will take into account the composition of the family. The costs needed for living will be deducted from the total income of the family and the share of energy will be calculated based on the remaining budget. This percentage will make the family fall under a vulnerability category. Setting a guaranteed rate for a particular volume within the cap that last year was of 150 cubic meters is a solution discussed in the Government. We can have a cap this year too and will also have a guaranteed rate for each vulnerability category. It would be normal for the people to slightly feel the rise, but we increased the people’s incomes, the pensions as much as we could. If the rate is maintained at about 23 lei, we need 5 billion lei to provide subsidies,” Marcel Spatari stated in the program “Secrets of the Power” on JurnalTV channel.
Currently, 70% of the electricity needed by the country is bought from the Kuchurgan power plant at a price that is lower than the price at which power is imported from Ukraine. According to the minister, if the price of electricity increases, the Government will consider offering subsidies for electrical energy too, through bills.
“We discussed with those from Premier Energy how we can do this at technical level. The goal of the mechanism is for the people to be able to pay their bills. If these are exorbitant, the Government will intervene,” said Marcel Spatari.
Earlier, the minister of finance said that a large part of the subsidies for energy this year will be paid with the grants provided by European states, namely €75 million disbursed by the European Union, €40 million announced by the Government of Germany and €10 million promised by the Government of Romania.
