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Victoria Mindova

"We will ask the European Commission for an expert opinion concerning the contracts of large companies giving their names to petrol stations and how this affects the pricing of fuel." This is what the president of the federation of Greek dealers and suppliers of fuel Vassilis Kochos told GRReporter. The decision was taken at a meeting of the board of the union and was caused by the ambiguous way of forming the wholesale fuel prices.

There have been fuel pricing problems in the sector for a long time that became particularly serious since the beginning of the crisis and the significant increase of excise duties in Greece in 2010. This is evident in the price differences of the same kind of petrol across the stations. Field experts explain this phenomenon with differences in wholesale prices.

Many companies that gave their names to the petrol stations burdened additionally the price of the petrol supplied by them as a condition for payment of the initial investment, said Kochos. At the same time, he said, petrol stations owners paid the investment according to the signed contracts for cooperation but the increase in the delivered fuel price was not part of the formal agreement.

"If the fuel which the companies deliver usually costs between one euro and 1.02 euros, then the wholesale price can reach up to 1.10 euros in the case of increasing fuel prices, according to the amount of investment," explained the unionist. Thus, oil companies raise prices for the end consumer thus removing some stations out of the market because they become uncompetitive. When asked "How many petrol stations are subject to this price pressure?" Vassilis Kochos said that he could not give a precise number. However, he added that rough estimates show that almost half of the stations in the country are under this price pressure.

Meanwhile, it became clear that Greece holds the championship among the 27 European Union countries for the highest fuel prices, especially of unleaded gasoline. According to European Commission official data published by Imerisia the last week, its price has risen by 46% on average last year and it cost about 50 cents more than the beginning of 2010. It is almost impossible to find a station in most Greek cities offering unleaded gasoline type 95 at a price lower than 1.60 euros per liter and the highest market price - 1.81 euros per liter - was registered in Fthiotida.

The Greek federation of fuel suppliers and dealers is adamant that the market situation should be changed and adjusted in favour of consumers. The demands we know for installing control devices at all levels of the fuel movement – from the refinery to the tank of the car - remain. The first step to solve the pricing problem will be referred to the Competition Commission at the Ministry of Regional Development and Competitiveness. If its response is not satisfactory the unions will refer the matter to the European Commission.

Unionists explicitly stated that the opening of duty-free petrol stations will damage the local economy and boost the black trade. Therefore, they decided that they would go on strike without specifying the exact date. "The prices of all other goods in the country depend on the stability of this market and the price of the fuel. Inflation in December 2010 jumped due to the next surge in fuel prices, so something must be done on the matter," concluded Kochos.