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Chamber of Deputies: the draft Offshore Law, adopted
The Chamber of Deputies has adopted the draft Offshore Law on Wednesday.
There were 248 votes "in favor" and 34 votes "against".
The draft law regulates a set of measures regarding the stability of the fiscal regime and petroleum royalties.
"Today we have voted in the Chamber of Deputies, alongside a wide majority, the Offshore Law. It is maybe a step - the most important - that we make towards energy independence. In fact we can say that once the investments starts in the Black Sea, Romania will become independent energy-wise, we'll produce more natural gas than we consume, and the natural gas surplus can be delivered abroad,"Energy Minister Virgil Popescu said at Parliament.
According to the minister, Romania can become a supplier of regional energy security.
"The law brings stability and predictability, a friendly taxation environment and I am positive that it will help investors decide to invest. Moreover, it protects Romania's national interests - in case of energy crisis we can intervene and redirect gas to domestic consumption and, also, imposes a control over bilateral contracts. (...) I believe it is a law in which both the state and the investors have to win and we expect investment decision can be made," Virgil Popescu also added.
He maintained that "no one ever sells under a cost price, starting from the good faith principle."
"Romania gains from the royalty - which is somewhere at 13 percent - from the additional revenue tax, Romania gains from the profit tax of companies, from the number of jobs that will be created. The state budget gains from the labour force tax and I believe the most important thing - Romania becomes independent energy-wise, and we'll no longer have problems of natural gas supply," Virgil Popescu argued.