Prime Minister: Strategically, we can no longer be blackmailed by Russian Federation

Strategically, we can no longer be blackmailed by the Russian Federation. We are now free to choose where we buy natural gas and electricity, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said during ZdCe Podcast.

According to the Prime Minister, the largest price increases were in energy resources.


'We bought these more expensive energy resources not because we wanted to, but because it was imposed by the Russian Federation, which first interrupted natural gas supplies, then made an enormous price increase in purchases. Strategically, we can no longer be blackmailed by the Russian Federation. We are now free to choose where we buy natural gas and electricity,' Recean said.


The official said 'we can choose, and we have demonstrated that we obtained better prices than Gazprom could offer us for natural gas, and there is also this statistic for 2024.'


'We saved about 60 million euros in these purchasing processes. This discussion about natural gas, energy prices, and other prices increased as a result of energy price hikes is a painful discussion. We mobilized financial resources, including from abroad. We allocated about 10 billion lei to help our citizens overcome these price increases. We will continue to stand by the citizens,' Recean said.


In this context, the Prime Minister estimated that the winter compensations for energy resources, the compensations for the first 110 kWh of electricity, remain at the same price as before 1 January 2025.


'We have already advanced on many fronts, increased teachers' and doctors' salaries, increased pensions, and we understand that it is not enough. We understand that there is still a lot to be done, but I return to the fact that during this period we had to face many challenges. Accordingly, we had to work on all these fronts and investments and subsidies in agriculture. Let us remember that we had at least 3 very difficult years out of the last 4, to support the business environment, especially small and medium-sized companies. Accordingly, we have achieved a balance regarding the immediate needs and the long-term development perspective of the country,' explained the Prime Minister.