Ribera on a tax on electric companies: "You have to be more aware of what Montero says than of Díaz"

MADRID, 16 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Third Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, has pointed out, regarding the statements of the Second Vice President, Yolanda Díaz, that by law a fiscal figure cannot be created in the next Budgets to tax the extra income of the electricity companies, that the leadership in fiscal matters corresponds to the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero. "Therefore, you have to be more aware of what María Jesús Montero says than what Yolanda Díaz says," she said.

"Yolanda Díaz says something that is part of the approach of the coalition government and that is that we must respond to this situation in a more balanced and fair way to the needs of citizens, so that the costs are distributed equitably. But at the time of designing the tax system, it is obvious that the leadership is led by the Ministry of Finance. In addition to that political will that unites us with the coalition government, it requires a technical assessment. Therefore, we must be more attentive to what Montero said than Yolanda Díaz", explained Ribera.

In statements to the press within the framework of the Global Mobility Call, which is being held at Ifema Madrid, the third vice-president recalled, in response to a question about how to detect possible bad practices by electricity companies, that Spain has a regulatory body that makes a monitoring for bad practices. "It is important that the CNMC be vigilant", Ribera stressed, who has shown that "ten years later an electricity company has been charged with bad practices in the market".

Last Tuesday, the CNMC announced that it had sanctioned Endesa with a total amount of 4.9 million euros for the commission of two constitutive infractions of abuse of dominant position in two access nodes to the electricity transmission network.

Regarding the operation of the gas cap mechanism, he has pointed out that if it had not come into force, prices would be higher, and that factors such as high demand due to the heat wave or the diminishing supply due to the closure of the spigot due to part of Gazprom have driven energy prices to these levels.

For this reason, he has expressed his confidence that the passage of the heat wave will help to recover electricity prices below current levels.

Regarding whether the 20-cent discount on fuel is going to be extended, Ribera has indicated that, given that the price of gasoline is high and may continue to be, the intention is to continue accompanying the most vulnerable families.

"It is important to maintain the bonus", he stressed, and although he recognized that "conceptually" it is possible to introduce improvements in the mechanism to improve the situation of vulnerable families, something that would be done if in this period of time the Government achieved "something operative", if not, the bonus will be kept as it is.