Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis returned to lawmakers the “solidarity contribution” law on grounds that it included ambiguous provisions on the calculation of the contribution, but not mentioning retroactivity issues raised by OMV Petrom, potentially the largest subject to this contribution.

“It is necessary to reconsider and clarify the calculation mechanism regarding the temporary solidarity contribution, in order to avoid situations in which the application of the rules would be difficult or would generate other effects than those pursued by the legislator,” the Presidency motivates its decision, quoted by Cursdeguvernare.ro.

The clarifications requested by the Presidency rather refer to the case of companies with no prior activity in the relevant industries, such as Black Sea Oil and Gas (BSOG), which would be levied disproportionate contributions under the initial formula drafted by the Government.

The draft law, as endorsed with amendments by Deputies on March 29, is highly likely to cover OMV Petrom. Based on the provisions of the initial emergency ordinance OUG 186/2022 endorsed by the Government on December 29 to transpose the European Commission’s Recommendation, OMV Petrom repeatedly declared that it is not a subject of the contribution as the relevant incomes account for less than 75% of its total revenues (the threshold set by the EC’s Recommendations).

Under the amended version of the OUG, the revenues generated from the activity of car fuel distribution are subject to the solidarity contribution, while this activity was excluded under the form drafted by the Government.

In a comment for Economica.net, OMV Petrom said the law is not enacted yet (hence the OUG as drafted by the Government prevails), and the law amendments breach the Constitution due to retroactivity. However, the Presidency’s motivation does not mention the retroactivity issue.

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andrei@romania-insider.com