Petrol station owners, under fire for showing excessive zeal in putting up prices, will argue their case when they meet Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides, today, Friday.
It comes after a ministery probe showed 122 petrol station owners had hiked prices at the pump the day the increases were announced, but before actually taking delivery of new costlier fuel.
An infuriated minister said this behaviour was unacceptable , particularly since the same zeal was not shown when companies announced cheaper fuel.
Petrol station owners hit back saying they were being unfairly picked on, adding that running costs were so high, they risked going out of business.
“We wiil table our positions and ask for an agreed formula on raising or lowering prices so that we don’t constantly face the same problem,” Cyprus petrol station owners’ Association President Stefanos Stafanou told yesterday. He rejected the minister’s statements saying that petrol station owners were not crooks.
“Our complaint is that we are being portrayed as the bad guys and people are pointing their finger at us, but this is not the reality. We put prices up when the price of shipments go up and down when they go down. Our 280 members have different practices for fluctuating prices. Some put them up or down as soon as price hikes or drops of shipments are announced and others 24 hours later. This is a free market and we can’t intervene,” he said.
Even in the case of the 122 petrol station owners who had raised prices straight away, their profit would be some euro300 on the reserves they had in stock.
“The point is that this is normal practice for business and anyway, nobody complains when, let’s say, supermarkets put sugar prices up,” Stefanou said.
The petrol station owners hope to also discuss the issue of their business’ viability.
“Our operational costs are constantly going up and our commissions remain unchanged. A way to be found to render our businesses viable,” said Stefanou.
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