RBT: How can be justified the request for profit tax exemption in favour of passengers and freight transporters?
Ion Lixandru: We came up with this proposal given the fact that transports are the most taxed services in Romania. There are all kinds of direct and indirect taxes, but I would refer only to the fuel excise: the fuel excise is about half of the retail price of fuel and in the same time fuel makes up 42 to 45 percent of the total costs of an international road haulier, so from 100 euros cashed in, 20 go to the budget as fuel excise. Added to the fuel excise are costs with vignettes, a tax on property amounting to 1.200 Euros per year per truck, employment taxes, and on top of all these a tax on the remaining profit. I do not think that there is another type of service charged as much by the state. Tax exemptions are badly needed because if there’s no action taken unloyal competition flourishes and when it comes to passenger transport and foreign hauliers such as Bulgarians, Hungarians, Turks and Poles grab ever bigger shares of the Romanian market for freight transport.
RBT: In your view, how will evolve the demand-supply ratio of transport services by the end of 2010?
Ion Lixandru: Demand for transport services will continue to drop this year. Since unemployment has risen from 4% to 9% no one can say that there will be the same amount of freight moving. Those who became unemployed no longer count when it comes to consumption and the rest of the population is afraid of unemployment so refrains from buying goods and services. As for the transport supply, I also foresee a reduction and a consolidation of the hauliers market. In the fourth quarter we should witness a stabilisation, because supply and demand should be better balanced by then.
