The National Administration for the Protection of Consumer Rights (ANPC) on Monday began a large-scale control action at the level of the whole country at the gas stations of the OMV-Petrom chain and, based on the results of the inspections, ordered the temporary closure of 11 stations. . In this way, the ANPC tried to teach a lesson to the European states, which “draw our attention to the fact that we are not yet ready to gain access to all their systems (ed. Schengen)”, admits the president of the Authority, referring to the fact that Austria does not want us in Schengen with land borders.

We remind you that the majority shareholder of Petrom is the Austrian company OMV, and Austria categorically opposes Romania joining the Schengen zone with land borders. After much insistence, Romania managed to join the European free movement zone with only air and sea borders, starting on March 31.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who was in Bucharest last week for the Congress of the European People’s Party, after meeting with Klaus Iohannis, sent a sharp new message to Romania: “Austria’s position remains clear and unchanged: the Schengen system is currently not working, so it cannot be extended.”

ANPC President: We understand that even their branded economic operators are not ready for our country

ANPC President Horia Constantinescu stated this in a press release

“This large-scale promotion takes into account our constant desire to learn from the best,” said Horia Constantinescu, president of ANPC, ironically in a press release.

He says this action is an example. “As we have seen recently, several European countries have brought to our attention that we are not yet ready to access all their systems. After the action, we understand that even their branded economic operators are not ready for our country, as we expected. Let the one without sin lift the stone, says the Christian religion. We offer them this example to help us by telling us if they like the images taken during the campaign,” Constantinescu said.

What “Consumer Protection” discovered at the Petrom gas station

ANPC inspected 197 stations of the OMV-Petrom network, applying fines for violations amounting to more than 340,000 lei and 5 warnings. Products worth more than 30,000 lei were finally discontinued.

Also, ANPK officials decided to temporarily stop providing services until deficiencies are eliminated for 11 gas stations and made a proposal to close gas stations for a period of up to 6 months.

The main detected deviations were:

• lack of price tags on products on the shelf,
• using non-disinfected refrigeration units with dead insects,
• dust accumulation
• impurities and ice,
• the use of fuel pumps with grooves (fuel gun) with degraded areas, with a high degree of wear and rust or contamination,
• use of manometers without metrological verification,
• sale of unmarked products – without identification elements,
• using unsanitized ice makers that are not in use,
• non-compliance with the product storage temperature recommended by the manufacturer,
• discrepancies between the price displayed on the shelf and the one charged at the cash register,
• sale of expired products,
• sale of unpackaged food products without specifying the date of opening,
• sale of ready-made culinary products for which no technical information has been provided,
• the sale of toys that were not accompanied by information about identifying elements, the age of users or warnings about use, the sale of electrical equipment for which a green card was not issued, failure to comply with the promotion regime, the use of unsanitized equipment for cooking or with an increased degree of wear and tear,
• using unhygienic cups with traces of the product,
• the use of products with a changed thermal state,
• using unprofessional utensils in the kitchen and garbage cans without lids.