COMMERCE Ministry officials are still voicing their concern over the high price of fuel, despite reductions implemented yesterday by petrol stations across the island.
The much anticipated drop in the prices of petrol and diesel was not enough to appease some who continued to argue that prices were still unrealistically inflated compared to the price at which oil and petroleum is being traded on international markets.
Solon Kasinis, Director of Energy at the Commerce Ministry yesterday told state radio that the most recent reductions of 1.3 cents per litre for unleaded 95 petrol and 1.0 for unleaded 98 were inadequate and fell short of his department’s assessment of an 8.5 cent requisite reduction.
“From the 16th of last month to the 10th of this month, prices internationally have dropped by €111 [per tonne of fuel], which translates to around 8.5cents per litre,” he said.
“Taking into account the fact that a shipment arrived on the 29th of June, and another on the 5th of July, and also that there has not been an increase in the costs involved in transportation due to a relatively stable dollar means that companies are obliged, without a doubt, to lower their prices more.”
Kasinis went on to explain that according to his analysis, diesel should be reduced by 6.5 cents per litre, which is less than the figure for petrol but still significantly more substantial than the current figure, which is hovering between 2.3 and 2.4 cents.
Responding to a question as to whether he could prove to the minister the indisputable veracity of his findings, Kasinis claimed: “The statistics will prove this to the minister.”
Meanwhile, the price reduction set by the petrol companies was defended by Akis Lefkaritis of Petrolina, who said that the company’s decision to reduce prices were not connected to comments made by Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides on Monday.
The Minister said he was demanding a reduction in petrol prices immediately.
Lefkartis said however they were being adjusted according to the price of fuel whenever a delivery is received, as is the general practice.
“Prices started to drop at the beginning of last week when we hadn’t had any deliveries. Now that there are new deliveries, we are lowering the prices. We expect prices to go down further for the next import we receive. The last one was small, so there will be more arriving at the end of the week, which will go on to be sold at the adjusted market price,” he said.
However, this was not enough to please Paschalides, who confessed to members of the press yesterday that he “is never fully satisfied with any reduction”.
“We are closely monitoring the increasing reductions in the price of fuel, and when we need to intervene, we will,” he said.
Explaining what he meant by this possibility of ‘intervention’, head of the Cyprus Consumers’ Association Petros Markou told the Cyprus Mail that while there was no law that compelled petrol companies to adhere to the government’s figures of what levels prices should be, “the ministry retains the right to issue a decree that sets a maximum price for fuel for a definite time period of 45 days, if it decides that it is not satisfied that the market is operating properly.”
Asked about what criteria would instigate the issuing of such a decree and how common it was for such an action to be taken, Markou said: “There is an advisory committee that is constantly meeting and assessing prices, and when they decide that something is wrong, they set limits. This has been done in the past… If the 45 days pass and the committee decides that prices still need to be held within limits, then they can just issue another decree.” He added that the Consumers’ Association “expects prices will go down by the end of this week.”
Referring to these committees, of which one had been convened yesterday to discuss the equally high prices of milk and bread, Paschalides expressed his hope that “they will soon be dropping” as well by the end of the week.
“We are not satisfied with the prices of some staple products, and so, have taken action,” he said.
“We are on the right track,” he said and pledged his ministry’s determination to calibrate the costs being paid by consumers to actual market prices.
