OUT of the blue, motorists were yesterday served an extra charge on the price of fuel, as the government denied accusations of back-door tactics.
The news broke around midday, when Pambinos Charalambous, president of the gas stations’ association, told a live radio show that they were charging .33 cents per litre more for all fuel types, effective immediately.
“We received a facsimile from the Commerce Ministry last night (Sunday) at 10pm, informing us that we were obliged to pay this fee, according to a government directive,” Charalambous told CyBC radio.
This fee, Charalambous guessed, would be paid to KODAP (the Cyprus Organisation for the Management of Oil Reserves). Therefore fuel prices at the pump would be revised within the day.
KODAP, a non-profit organisation, was set up to maintain and monitor the country’s strategic oil reserves, part of Cyprus’ obligations as an EU member. It was established following the closure of the refinery at Larnaca.
Charalambous insisted his association had been completely in the dark until the last moment, and went on to question the government’s move.
“How come they announced previous drops in the price of fuel, but now said nothing about this new charge?” he wondered.
The government denied allegations of cloak-and-dagger tactics, insisting the imposition of the fee had been known for several months now. According to Solon Kassimis, alternate director of the Energy Department at the Commerce Ministry, the measure was announced in the Government Gazette and was initially set to be enforced last June, but was postponed.
Kassimis said he did not understand why everyone was acting so surprised, and described the fuel charge as “not too high”. He confirmed the government imposed this fee on KODAP, meaning the latter’s members (which includes fuel distributors and gas stations) would need to contribute to cover the cost.
Some £7 million would be generated annually from this charge, Kassimis said.
However, the chairman of the House Commerce Committee Lefteris Christoforou told a completely different story. He insisted that parliament and public had been taken aback.
“So what if the measure was written in the Government Gazette? Seriously, do you know anyone who sits down and studies the gazette, word for word?” he challenged.
Christoforou, a DISY deputy, accused the administration of employing backdoor methods. “I have a sneaking suspicion that this is just the beginning of a string of so-called ‘fees’ imposed on consumers,” he added.
His remark was understood to refer to the government’s pledge of no more new taxes.
Christoforou indirectly conceded that the law must have slipped deputies’ attention, saying it was probably fast-tracked through parliament as part of the bulk of EU harmonisation legislation.
However, he pointed out that this was an “unprecedented” way of conducting affairs, since the fee was being imposed on a public organisation, meaning that it would ultimately be paid by consumers.
Christoforou said that in real terms people would certainly feel the pinch.
“This will have a chain-reaction effect on consumers’ purchasing power,” he warned.
For his part, DIKO’s Aristos Chrysostomou, chairman of the House Finance Committee, said there was nothing out of place with the government’s methods.
He tried to play down the issue, joking: “Perhaps this is one of those rare occasions when the press did not get wind of a government measure; that would explain why there’s been so much hubbub over this.”
