In brief

  • For as long as the excise duty on diesel is temporarily reduced because of the crisis on the crude oil market, the money hauliers get back from the State falls from 85 to 71, 57 or 43 bani per litre, depending on how deep the excise duty cut is: 15%, 20% or 25%. One hundred bani make one leu.
  • On 3 September 2026, when the decision was published, the reduction in force was 25%, so the lowest figure applies, 43 bani per litre. The haulier still comes out ahead, because he pays less at the pump.
  • The quarterly fuel purchase schedule that companies submit also changes: a new column appears, „Type of diesel”, in which one writes „Standard” or „Other than standard”. The crisis excise duty cut applies only to standard diesel.
Act: Government Decision no. 690 of 3 September 2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 746 of 3 September 2026
In force from: 3 September 2026, the date of publication

Transport companies that get back part of the excise duty paid on diesel will receive less for as long as the crude oil market crisis lasts. Government Decision no. 690/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 746 of 3 September 2026, adds three new paragraphs to the compensation scheme established by Government Decision no. 1.094/2025 and ties the value of the aid to how deeply the excise duty has been cut for everyone. It is the Government’s third intervention on the same file in little over a month, after Law no. 162/2026, which declared the crisis, and after the order by which the Ministry of Finance required companies selling petrol and diesel to declare their commercial markup.

To follow the mechanism, three notions are needed. The excise duty is the fixed tax the State puts on every litre of fuel, whatever the price on the display. In 2026, for standard diesel, it is 2,804.29 lei per 1,000 litres, that is, almost 2.81 lei per litre. The reduced level is the lower excise duty that European legislation allows professional hauliers to bear in the end. And the state aid is precisely the difference between the two, which the company claims back from the State, quarter by quarter.

The scheme has existed since December 2025 and is addressed to a precise category: road hauliers of goods, on own account or for hire and reward, with vehicles of at least 7.5 tonnes, and passenger carriers with buses and coaches in categories M2 and M3, local public transport excluded. The money is paid by the Ministry of Finance, and the applications are checked by the Romanian Road Authority. The initial form of the scheme estimated 2,200 beneficiary operators.

From April 2026, after a first amendment made by Government Decision no. 145/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 197 of 13 March 2026, the aid was 85 bani per litre and the reduced level of the excise duty 1,954.29 lei per 1,000 litres. The figures add up: 2,804.29 minus 850 lei per thousand litres gives exactly 1,954.29.

Then came the crisis. Law no. 162/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 642 of 4 August 2026, established a crisis situation on the crude oil market from 7 August to 31 October 2026, with the possibility of extension every three months. The law set to work a mechanism that temporarily cuts the excise duty on standard diesel for everyone, not only for hauliers. The level of the cut is set by the Ministry of Finance twice a month, for each half month, on the basis of Platts quotations and of the average price at the pump. For 16 August 2026 the cut was 20%, and for 1 September it rose to 25%, which means 701.07 lei less per 1,000 litres and an effective excise duty of 2,103.22 lei per 1,000 litres.

This is where the new decision steps in. If hauliers had gone on receiving 85 bani per litre on top of an excise duty already cut by a quarter, they would have ended up bearing a net excise duty far below the minimum threshold that Directive 2003/96/EC imposes, 330 euro per 1,000 litres. The Government recalibrated the aid so that, whatever the depth of the general cut, the haulier stays at the same point.

What it changes in practice

The first effect is immediate and shows up in money. From 3 September 2026, for standard diesel bought while the excise duty reduction is 25%, the aid falls from 85 to 43 bani per litre. At 20% it is 57 bani, and at 15%, 71 bani. The reduced levels of the excise duty declared in the decision are, in the same order, 2,374.29, 2,234.29 and 2,094.29 lei per 1,000 litres, that is, exactly 2,804.29 lei minus the aid granted.

The second effect is the one the decision nowhere writes down but which follows from the arithmetic. A haulier who buys standard diesel pays the cut excise duty at the pump and then receives the aid. At a cut of 15% he ends up at 2,383.65 minus 710 lei, that is, 1,673.65 lei per 1,000 litres. At 20%, at 1,673.43 lei. At 25%, at 1,673.22 lei. Practically the same figure in all three scenarios, with a difference of under half a leu per thousand litres, coming from rounding the aid to the whole ban. In other words, for a beneficiary of the scheme it makes no difference at all whether the general excise duty falls by 15% or by 25%: his net burden stays the same.

The third effect is that hauliers come out ahead compared with periods outside the crisis, but with a capped gain. Outside the crisis they bear a net excise duty of 1,954.29 lei per 1,000 litres. During the crisis, around 1,673 lei. The difference is roughly 28 bani per litre, whatever the level of the cut. For a heavy lorry that runs 120,000 kilometres a year and consumes 30 litres per 100 kilometres, that is, 36,000 litres, this comes to around 10,100 lei a year. The same amount at 15% as at 25%.

The fourth effect is administrative and falls on the companies. The fuel purchase schedule, Annex no. 2 to the base decision, is replaced in full and gains a new, twelfth column, in which the type of diesel is declared: „Standard” or „Other than standard”. The distinction matters, because the crisis excise duty reduction concerns standard diesel only, and purchases of any other type of diesel stay under the ordinary rule.

The fifth effect concerns the flow of information. The newly introduced paragraph (6) requires the Ministry of Finance, as provider of the aid, to send the Romanian Road Authority the reduced level of the excise duty through the scheme’s IT system, within the deadlines in Article 7(3) of Law no. 162/2026. In practice, the same institution that publishes the level of the cut on its website has to send it to the scheme administrator as well, within the window of days left in the half month analysed.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

Until 3 September 2026, the scheme had a single value of the aid for the whole interval from 1 April 2026 to 31 December 2026: 85 bani per litre, with a reduced excise duty level of 1,954.29 lei per 1,000 litres. The value depended on the calendar, not on the market. Now it also depends on the market, through the percentage set by the Ministry of Finance twice a month.

The frequency with which the amount can change has also shifted. The old paragraphs tied the aid to long periods, of several months. The new paragraphs tie it to half month segments. Within a single quarter, a haulier can go through several values. The third quarter of 2026 is already an example: no cut at all until 15 August, 20% between 16 and 31 August, 25% from 1 September.

The form has changed. The initial version, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 1162 of 15 December 2025, had eleven columns, numbered from 0 to 10, and used a typographical device: four of the column headings were replaced with the letters A, B, C and D, explained above the table. The new version has twelve columns, writes out every heading in letters and adds „Type of diesel”, with a footnote of its own. The old columns keep the same meaning. The base decision has been amended in the meantime, so the form now replaced is not necessarily the one in the December 2025 edition, but the column for the type of diesel did not exist in the initial version.

Nothing has changed as to who is entitled to the aid, the period covered or the way the application is submitted. The eligibility conditions in Article 6 remain in force, as does the deadline for buying the diesel, 31 December 2026, and the quarterly application in Annex no. 1, which this decision did not touch.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • It keeps the scheme within the limits of European law. Without recalibration, aid of 85 bani per litre on top of an excise duty cut by 25% would have pushed the hauliers’ net burden far below the minimum threshold of 330 euro per 1,000 litres in Directive 2003/96/EC, that is, below the very condition that keeps the scheme exempt from notification to the European Commission.
  • Hauliers stay in profit, not in loss. Although the amount refunded falls, the gain at the pump is larger than the loss on the refund. The net result is around 28 bani per litre better than outside the crisis.
  • The figures add up to the leu. Each of the three pairs in the act, reduced level plus aid, gives exactly 2,804.29 lei per 1,000 litres, that is, the standard level of the excise duty on standard diesel in Annex no. 1 to Title VIII of the Tax Code. There is no rounding discrepancy.
  • The new column in the schedule solves a real problem. Without it, the Romanian Road Authority could not have separated purchases of standard diesel, the only ones covered by the excise duty cut, from the others, which stay under the old rule.

What remains a problem

  • The mechanism has five steps, the decision covers three. Law no. 162/2026 allows cuts of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. For the first two, the act says neither what the reduced level is nor how much the aid is.
  • There is no transitional provision. The crisis began on 7 August, the first cut applied from 16 August, and the decision enters into force only on 3 September. For diesel bought in the eighteen days between 16 August and 2 September, the old aid of 85 bani remains applicable, on top of an excise duty already cut by 20% and then by 25%.
  • The quarterly application has not been adapted. Annex no. 1 asks for a single quantity and a single amount per quarter, but a quarter can contain up to six different values of the aid. Who does the intermediate calculation and how it is checked is written nowhere.
  • The aid depends on a figure published only on a website. The level of the cut is published on the Ministry of Finance page, not in the Official Gazette of Romania. Once the amount refunded depends on it, it becomes an element of a property right, without having the publicity of a normative act.

Practical advice

  1. Check the date of every fill-up, not just the quarter. From 3 September 2026, two tank fills two weeks apart can carry different values of the aid. The refuelling date, column 7 of the schedule, becomes the element that decides the amount.
  2. Fill in the new „Type of diesel” column correctly. You write „Standard” or „Other than standard”. A purchase of non-standard diesel entered as standard, or the other way round, changes the applicable rule and can lead to partial rejection of the application.
  3. Do not assume that the 85 bani aid has disappeared altogether. It stays the rule for diesel that is not standard and for periods in which no excise duty cut applies. The three new values apply only to standard diesel and only for the duration of the crisis.
  4. Follow the Ministry of Finance announcements in the middle and at the end of each month. The level of the cut for the next half month is published on the ministry page in the days left in the segment being analysed. How much money you get back depends directly on it.
  5. Keep separate records for 16 August to 2 September 2026. That is the interval to which the new decision does not apply, although the excise duty cut was already in force. If the Romanian Road Authority takes a different view, you will need the quantities for that interval, broken down.
  6. If the cut drops to 5% or 10%, ask the scheme administrator for a written position before you submit the application. The act provides nothing for these two steps, and an application filed on your own reading risks being rejected.

Frequently asked questions

Who receives this state aid?
Road hauliers of goods, on own account or for hire and reward, with vehicles or vehicle combinations of at least 7.5 tonnes, and passenger carriers, regular or occasional, with vehicles in categories M2 and M3. Local public passenger transport is excluded. The company must hold a Community licence issued in Romania and at least one eligible vehicle.
How much do I get back per litre from 3 September 2026?
It depends on the level of the excise duty cut set by the Ministry of Finance for the half month in question: 71 bani per litre at a cut of 15%, 57 bani at 20% and 43 bani at 25%. On 1 September 2026 the cut was 25%, so 43 bani per litre applies.
Why does the aid fall, if the crisis is still on?
Because the excise duty you pay at the pump has already fallen. The State refunds the difference up to a level considered the minimum, and if the starting point drops, the difference to be refunded shrinks. The final result for the haulier stays the same, around 1,673 lei of net excise duty per 1,000 litres.
Am I better or worse off than last month?
Better off. You lose 42 bani per litre on the refund, at a cut of 25%, but you gain 70.11 bani per litre at the pump. The difference in your favour is roughly 28 bani per litre, that is, around 10,100 lei a year for a lorry that consumes 36,000 litres.
What is standard diesel and why does it matter?
It is the grade of diesel currently marketed on the domestic market, for which the excise duty level at item 12 of Annex no. 1 to Title VIII of the Tax Code applies. It matters because the temporary excise duty cut applies only to this grade, and the schedule now requires you to declare, for every fill-up, whether it was standard or not.
What happens to diesel bought between 16 August and 2 September 2026?
The decision contains no transitional provision and does not apply retroactively, so for that interval the aid of 85 bani per litre remains applicable, even though the excise duty cut was already in force, 20% from 16 August and 25% from 1 September. It is a point that the application for the third quarter will bring to light.
What happens if the excise duty cut is 5% or 10%?
The act provides nothing for these two steps, although the law allows them. It can be argued either that the general rule of 85 bani per litre returns, or that, the new paragraph being an exception for the whole duration of the crisis, no applicable value is left at all. The difference between the two readings is 85 bani per litre.
Do I have to redo the schedules I have already submitted?
No. The new form applies to applications submitted after the decision enters into force. Applications already submitted were drawn up on the form valid at that date. For the third quarter of 2026, however, you will use the twelve column form.
Until when can I still claim the compensation?
The measure covers diesel bought until 31 December 2026, and the aid can be paid until 30 April 2027, according to the version of the base decision in force. The crisis declared by Law no. 162/2026 lasts until 31 October 2026, with the possibility of extension by Government decision, every three months.
Who pays the money and who checks the application?
The provider of the state aid is the Ministry of Finance, and the scheme administrator is the Romanian Road Authority, which receives the quarterly applications, checks them and issues the approval or rejection decisions. Payment is made by bank transfer into the account opened with the State Treasury.

Errors and inconsistencies in the published text

  • Article 5(4)(c) calls „reduced” an excise duty level higher than the one actually in force. Point (c) sets, for a cut of 25%, a reduced excise duty level of 2,374.29 lei per 1,000 litres. On 3 September 2026, the date the decision was published, the cut in force was precisely 25%, and the excise duty applicable to standard diesel, announced by the Ministry of Finance for the interval 1 to 15 September 2026, was 2,103.22 lei per 1,000 litres. The level called „reduced” is 271.07 lei per 1,000 litres higher than the level everyone actually pays. The consequence is not terminological: Article 1(1) and (6) of the base decision define the aid as the difference between the standard level of the excise duty and the reduced level, and at 25% that difference is negative, while paragraph (5)(c) grants 43 bani per litre. At 20% the difference calculated from the act would be 0.91 bani per litre, against the 57 bani granted, and at 15%, 28.94 bani, against 71. The three levels in paragraph (4) are calculated against 2,804.29 lei per 1,000 litres, that is, against the excise duty that is not in force during the crisis. The same act yields two different amounts for the same entitlement.
  • The mechanism invoked has five steps, the decision regulates three. Article 5(4) and (5) refer to the level of the reduction set under the temporary mechanism in Law no. 162/2026 and give values only for 15%, 20% and 25%. Article 6(1) of the law, however, provides that the level is set gradually between 5% and 25%, and Article 8(1) of the annex to the law lists five steps: 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. If the Ministry of Finance sets 5% or 10% for a half month, no point of paragraphs (4) and (5) fits. Since paragraph (4) declares itself an exception to paragraphs (1) and (2) for the whole duration of the crisis, it can be read either as meaning that the general rule of 85 bani per litre returns, or as meaning that no applicable value is left. The difference between the two readings is 85 bani per litre, that is, over 30,000 lei a year for a single lorry consuming 36,000 litres.

Editorial analysis

The decision solves a real problem and solves it quickly. Without it, hauliers would have accumulated two advantages that were never meant to overlap: the general excise duty cut, of up to a quarter, and the refund of 85 bani per litre, calibrated for an uncut excise duty. The result would have pushed their net burden well below the threshold of 330 euro per 1,000 litres that Directive 2003/96/EC imposes as a minimum, that is, exactly below the condition that keeps the scheme exempt from notification to the European Commission. The recalibration was necessary and, at the level of arithmetic, it is well done: the three pairs of figures add up to the leu on 2,804.29 lei per 1,000 litres.

The observation that does not show up when you read the act from beginning to end is that, for a beneficiary of the scheme, the depth of the general cut no longer matters at all: at 15% the haulier bears a net excise duty of 1,673.65 lei per 1,000 litres, at 20% of 1,673.43 lei, and at 25% of 1,673.22 lei. The maximum difference between the three is 43 bani per thousand litres, that is, practically zero. The State has built a mechanism with five steps that adjusts twice a month, but for the roughly 2,200 operators in the scheme the result is a straight line. Their gain compared with periods outside the crisis is constant, around 28 bani per litre, that is, some 10,100 lei a year for a lorry that runs 120,000 kilometres and consumes 36,000 litres. A mechanism that recalculates itself every two weeks in order to produce the same result every time deserves the question whether it could not have been written directly as a formula.

The second observation concerns the calendar, and here the decision falls short. The crisis began on 7 August 2026, the first excise duty cut applied from 16 August, the second from 1 September, and the recalibration enters into force only on 3 September. In the eighteen days between 16 August and 2 September, exactly what the decision seeks to avoid did accumulate: aid of 85 bani per litre on top of an excise duty cut by 20% and then by 25%. The net excise duty borne by the haulier in that interval drops to 1,393.43 lei and 1,253.22 lei per 1,000 litres respectively, that is, between 280 and 420 lei per thousand litres below the threshold the act now treats as the correct one. There is no transitional provision, and applications for the third quarter are filed after 30 September, so the Romanian Road Authority will have to apply three different regimes within a single quarterly schedule.

The third observation concerns the paperwork. The decision replaces the fuel purchase schedule in full in order to add a single column, the one for the type of diesel, but leaves untouched the application in Annex no. 1, which continues to ask for a single quantity and a single amount to be compensated per quarter. Since the level of the cut changes every half month, a quarter can contain up to six different values of the aid. The applicant will have to do the breakdown himself, without any form asking for it and without any provision saying who bears the risk of a calculation error. And paragraph (6), which refers for deadlines to Article 7(3) of Law no. 162/2026, in fact borrows a rule about publication on the internet and uses it as a deadline for transmission between two institutions. The window is determinable, so the text works, but it says nothing about what happens if the transmission is late.

What should be changed

  • Filling in the two missing steps, of 5% and 10%. The practical effect: no half month would be left without a rule. Applying the same calculation logic as for the other three steps would give 99 bani per litre at a cut of 5% and 85 bani at 10%, with reduced levels of 1,814.29 and 1,954.29 lei per 1,000 litres respectively. At 10%, the value coincides with the general rule, so in practice only the 5% step needs a new figure.
  • Replacing the table with a formula. The practical effect: the aid would be calculated as the difference between the excise duty actually in force in the segment concerned and a fixed threshold expressed in lei, and any level of cut, including one introduced in the future, would be covered without a new decision. The present table requires an amendment of the act every time the mechanism changes.
  • Stating, in Article 1 or in paragraph (4), what „the standard level of the excise duty” means during the crisis. The practical effect: the contradiction between the two paragraphs would disappear. Today, a beneficiary who applies the definition in Article 1 gets 29 bani per litre at a cut of 15%, while one who reads paragraph (5) directly gets 71. Both are reading the same act.
  • A transitional provision for 16 August to 2 September 2026. The practical effect: the eighteen days in which the full aid was paid on top of an already cut excise duty would be settled explicitly, instead of being left to the scheme administrator’s interpretation when the third quarter applications are checked.
  • Amending the application in Annex no. 1, with a breakdown by half month segment. The practical effect: the applicant would declare what he can verify, and the Romanian Road Authority would no longer have to reconstruct on its own how the quantities are allocated across aid levels, working only from the refuelling date column.
  • Publishing the level of the reduction in the Official Gazette of Romania, not only on the Ministry of Finance page. The practical effect: the figure on which a refund from the State budget depends would acquire the publicity and the dating of an official act. Today, a dispute about the amount due would rest on a web page that can change without trace.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 746 of 3 September 2026 16 pages PDF, 118 KB the act starts on page 2

Open the official PDFDownload the PDF

The viewer is not shown on small screens. Use the buttons above to open or download the file.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.