The amendment to the Offshore Law is not the only reasonThe heads of the Austrian company OMV are meeting on Monday with the Prime Minister Marcel Čolaku and the President of the Senate Nicolae Chuke. According to information obtained by HotNews.ro, Alfred Stern, the head of OMV, is arriving in Bucharest to negotiate a reduction in the solidarity tax, in addition to changing the offshore law, from €300 million to €150 million/year. Instead, they will offer to abandon the lawsuit opened at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris – ICC against the Romanian state.

Marcel Ciolacu said on Monday before the meeting that the offshore law is envisaged and that the disputes that OMV has with the Romanian state are to be resolved peacefully.

We remind you that in June OMV Petrom filed a lawsuit against the Romanian State at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris – ICC, demanding certain provisions of offshore law that impose some restrictions on how it can dispose of the extracted natural gas from the Black Sea, according to the pre cursdeguvernare. ro.

The announcement of this lawsuit was made just hours after the announcement of OMV Petrom’s decision to move with Romgaz to operate the Domino and Pelican Sud commercial natural gas fields in the Neptun Deep Perimeter.

HotNews.ro already wrote on Thursday that the head of OMV is arriving in Bucharest to discuss changes to the offshore law with government representatives. The visit comes in the context of a lawsuit against the Romanian state, demanding provisions of the Offshore Law, which the Austrian company would not like. The Austrians want more freedom in exporting gas from the Black Sea to the West.

OMV head Alfred Stern will meet at the Victoria Palace with Prime Minister Marcel Cholakou, PNL President Nicolae Chuke and Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neatzu, who will also take part in the discussions.

How much does OMV Petrom pay in solidarity tax

In May, OMV Petrom announced that it estimated a solidarity contribution of approximately 1.5 billion lei (approximately 300 million euros) for the 2022 financial year, which was paid at the end of June 2023.

The contribution for the entire year 2023 will be paid at the end of June 2024, OMV Petrom also said.

For companies that extract and process crude oil, the law imposes an obligation to pay 350 lei for each ton of crude oil processed in 2022 and 2023.