Romania’s government was among the first in the EU to respond as energy prices started to rise. Even before the Ukraine war began, Bucharest last November launched a subsidy scheme to shield one of the bloc’s poorest populations from their impact.
Now, as other EU nations roll out their own consumer protection programmes, Romania’s experience demonstrates the pitfalls of such initiatives as prices hit unforeseen records in the wake of Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine.
Under Bucharest’s scheme, launched after the global reopening following the Covid pandemic and a shortage of supplies from Russia pushed prices up, utilities buy at the full market price and sell at a capped price, with the state compensating them for the difference.
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