"Headaches" are caused by the increases in fuel prices which, it seems, have no end!
It is worth mentioning that at the moment, diesel has "touched" up to 2 euros.
"Diesel is the most expensive at the moment, reaching up to 2 euros. These prices have been observed in some service stations, however, they are expected to prevail in others," said Mr Drusiotis. With regard to the increases observed in fuel in general, in recent days, Mr. Drousiotis mentioned the following:8 cents for diesel and 11 cents for heating oil.
"To top up these increases and to see what will happen with petrol, it takes 3 to 4 days," Mr Drusiotis commented.
Diesel reached €1,999 at the most expensive petrol station, according to the Consumer Protection Service's Retail Fuel Price Observatory. On average, diesel averages €1.914, while it can be found for €1.808 at the cheapest station.
95 octane
petrol[/B] averages €1.806. The cheapest 95 octane petrol is sold at €1.755 and the most expensive at €1.867.
The variation between petrol stations seems to be very wide. As the President of the Pancyprian Association of Petrol Station Owners, Savvas Prokopiou, said in response to questions from CNA, this is due to the different timing at which the petrol stations of different companies are supplied, and it is usually instantaneous.
"The increases of the companies do not happen on the same days," he noted, noting that petrol stations of the same company should have similar prices. "If you see these differences in service stations of the same companies, then there is an issue."
In addition, he said, there are service stations in the 2-3 tier market that receive different discounts. He also said there is likely to be interference to put pressure on prices. "As captive petrol station operators, we cannot sell cheaper as the discounts we receive are very small, on the order of 2.5 per cent," he said.
As for future price increases, Mr. Prokopiou noted that it is difficult to forecast as he cannot know if and when there will be reductions in oil internationally and forecasts lately have not been verified, he said.Internationally, according to Bloomberg, the price of WTI crude is at $111.52 a barrel, Brent at $115.01 a barrel. Natural gas on the Nymex market is at $6.73 per million BTU.
More "noticeable" increases are coming next week
On the expected increases in fuel and essentials and today's debate in Parliament on the two AKEL bills, Cyprus Times[/B] Cyprus Consumers Association President Marios Droussiotis spoke to the Cyprus Times. He spoke of new increases which he described as "noticeable" stating that "so far we cannot have a clear picture of the difference in price."
These increases, Drusiotis said, will make their "appearance" next week.
AKEL's effort for caps
However, the debate in Parliament on the two bills tabled by AKEL, which concern caps on fuel prices as well as on essentials, starts on the 11th.
On this issue, the President of the Cyprus Consumers' Association will also be present at the debate, who was invited to comment to the Cyprus Times on the bills and give his opinion, which he will convey to the House.
Specifically, regarding fuel, AKEL asked for the law to be amended to cap fuel prices, which is not to Drusiotis' liking.
"We disagree with the imposition of a cap on fuel because this is something that will cause more problems for consumers than help them," said Drusiotis, explaining below the arguments with which he will support this view before the Parliament.
As he explained, "prices are set at the highest price on the market, however, there are also the lowest prices. So, if the cap is put in, then the petrol stations will come and put a price which will be close to the higher one," Drusiotis explained.
He continued by stating that, prices change from week to week. "How can you put a cap when the company that supplies us with fuel will be making a loss?" asked Drusiotis, citing shortages.
"This cannot happen when there is this continued increase in fuel," he commented.
Regarding the cap on prices on essentials, all Drusiotis commented is that "to this proposal we do not have any objection because there are no special circumstances."
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