It's done! The country raised taxes on companies speculating on energy prices!

In recent days, the Middle East conflict has continued to escalate, resulting in the obstruction of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the shutdown of Qatar's LNG liquefaction plant. Affected

by this, the price of natural gas in Europe has soared recently. As of March 4, 2026, the price of European natural gas futures has exceeded 56 euros per megawatt hour , a new high in more than three years.

In this situation, some enterprises take the opportunity to make profits. In response to this situation, on March 5, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (Giorgia Meloni) said that for those enterprises that have gained undue benefits from the rise in natural gas prices under the Middle East conflict, they will be able to do so. Italy is preparing to raise taxes . "We will stop all speculation,"

Mr Meloni said. If necessary, I am prepared to respond, even by raising taxes on companies that may speculate on prices through energy bills. In

addition, in a radio interview, Italian Prime Minister Meloni also reiterated that Italy is in favor of freezing the carbon emission permit scheme of the European Union's carbon emissions trading system to reduce high energy costs across Europe.

In fact, just before this statement, Italy announced an increase in the IRAP enterprise income tax of energy companies, which is expected to bring about about 1 billion euros (about 8.029 billion yuan) in revenue by 2028. In a video posted on the social media platform

, Meloni said: "This package will have a significant impact, ensuring more than 5 billion euros in benefits for households and businesses ."