Environment Minister Laszlo Borbely inaugurated yesterday in Bucharest the first charging station for electric vehicles. Borbely said that the public can be “convinced” to use less-polluting cars or to use bikes “only” through economic and political decisions. The charging station is located in Bucharest’s Unirii Square area, at the headquarters of Transelectrica, the electricity distribution company. The station was the initiative of the ‘CIGRE’ National Committee in partnership with Mitsubishi Motors Romania. The electric car built by Mitsubishi costs EUR 36,000. The minister told reporters that the changes brought to the auto tax should be approved through an emergency government ordinance (OUG), not through a draft law.
At the same time, he explained that the law that modifies the current auto tax system could be debated by the government next week, Mediafax informs. According to Borbely, the draft law still needs the Justice Ministry’s and the Finance Ministry’s green light in order to end up on the government’s table. In order to come into force, the draft law needs to be approved by both the government and the Parliament. However, the Parliament’s recess will start in July and will last until September, so that parliamentary debates on the draft law will start this autumn at the earliest. Thus, the date on which the provisions of the draft will come into force is uncertain. The sales of auto spare parts will grow by 4-5 per cent this year to approximately EUR 1 bln, a growth caused by the fact that the warranties for vehicles bought in 2007-2008, the auto market’s period of boom, will expire, Dragos Paduraru, spokesperson of the Association of Auto Spare Parts Distributors in Romania (ADPAR), stated. On the other hand, Marius Constantinoiu, a member of the association, claims that the forged auto spare parts’ market is insignificant in Romania, contrary to the statements of some auto producers.
