Rompetrol Rafinare challenges solidarity tax in court

In June 2023, Rompetrol paid a solidarity contribution of 578 million lei ($124.7 million/116.2 million euro) for 2022, the company said in its annual financial report filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Monday.

"After fulfilling the mandatory administrative procedure for challenging this tax which was rejected by the fiscal authorities, the Company filed in on March 8, 2024, the challenge in front of the court. No hearing is yet established," the company said in the financial statement.

In December 2022, the Romanian government approved an emergency decree enforcing a solidarity contribution of 60% of taxable profits of oil and natural gas producers and oil refining companies that exceed by more than 20% the average profits recorded in the 2018-2021 period, aligning Romanian legislation with the EU regulation adopted earlier that year, which introduced a temporary solidarity contribution.

Rompetrol Rafinare closed last year with a consolidated net loss of $270.5 million, compared to a net profit of $90.3 million in 2022.

Rompetrol Rafinare is part of KMG International, formerly The Rompetrol Group, which is fully owned by Kazakhstan's state-owned energy company KazMunayGas Group. Rompetrol Rafinare’s main shareholders are KMG International at 48.1% and the Romanian state, which holds a 44.7% stake, while the remaining 7.2% is in free float on the Bucharest bourse. Rompetrol Rafinare operates two oil refineries, with Petromidia Navodari being the largest in Romania.

Rompetrol's shares traded flat at 0.0725 lei as at 0941 CET on Thursday on the Bucharest bourse.

(1 euro=4.9759 lei)