EnviMin says state should support companies switch to green fleets

The state should make an effort to support taxi and courier companies switch to green fleets, because these entities account for the most kilometers traveled, Environment Minister Mircea Fechet said on Wednesday.

"The Romanian vehicle fleet is much older than the EU average and exactly for this reason we intend to remain just as ambitious and to maintain the budgets for the 'Rabla' or 'Rabla Plus' car scrappage programs whereby we finance electric or internal combustion cars this year as well. In addition, a goal we have discussed before, but I must confess I never managed to achieve, is related to electric car fleets. Whether we are talking about delivery, taxi service, or any other type of courier, I believe that the state should make an effort to support those companies that want to 'green' their fleet, because this is where we also find the highest traveled mileage, perhaps much higher than that of a second or third electric family car that is used to ride for Sunday shopping," the minister said at ZF Power Summit 2025, an event dedicated to energy, now in its 14th year.

He remarked that whereas large energy-consuming companies have closed, transport is far from the trend Romania has pledged in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Looking at the graphs that track Romania's greenhouse gas emissions, we see that the industry is in the trend we assumed, but transport, if I remember correctly, has a 70% increase compared to the reference point, namely 1990. I guess this not a surprise to anyone, because industry, for the most part, I mean the energy-consuming industry, has ended up as scrap metal in many situations, whereas the number of cars rolling on the streets of Romania today cannot be compared in any way to what was happening in the 1990s," he said.

Asked whether, in the current context, he would theoretically favor exploiting shale gas in Romania, the environment minister replied that he is of the opinion that one should not oppose any technology in advance, and refrain from preconceived ideas on the exploitation of any deposit.

"These are quantifiable elements, there are things that have been done in the past and environmental experts suggest certain technologies and estimate a certain impact, just as the Romanian state authorities, specifically the Environment Ministry, through the Environmental Protection Agency, assesses whether there is a significant impact on the environment or not. If the impact is significant and cannot be offset, the project is rejected. Rejected projects happen every day, yet if the positive impact prevails, then the project can be admitted, it gets the go-ahead," Mircea Fechet explained.