Former minister blasts government fuel policy

FORMER Commerce and Industry Minister Nicos Rolandis yesterday slammed the government’s decision to slap an extra three cents per litre onto the price of petrol following increases in the international price of oil.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Rolandis said the government’s tactics were wrong and would condemn consumers to pay an extra £23 million a year.

“On heating fuel, I believe that the government tactics this year are wrong because they have left a lot of people out of the picture,” he said.

“The system we implemented last year where we reduced the price from 31 to 23 cents benefited the middle class i.e. private employees, public employees and businessmen.
“These people will not get any benefits this year, while we gave them a benefit of eight cents last year,” he added.

“But the government’s approach of wanting to accommodate only some parts of the population, like those living above a certain altitude and poor families, essentially leaves out 80 per cent of the population,” he said.

As for petrol price rises, Rolandis said the new price hikes would enable petroleum companies to start at those prices when the liberalisation of the market kicks in.

“The annual increase is in the range of £23 million, which means it can’t be implemented for a long period because the market will be liberalised, and by raising the prices to that level, when the market is liberalised, people will start at those prices,” he said.

“Companies will not want to decrease their prices, and that’s logical, and because it’s a small market with four companies, even if the government reduces the prices 15 or 20 days before liberalisation, they will still increase them on liberalisation.”

Rolandis said the best solution would be to introduce smaller increases, even though that would create a deficit in the public fund.

“I would much prefer to have had a smaller increase like the one we had a month ago of 0.08 cents, even if it created a small deficit in the public fund against oil companies,” he said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.