The widening of price differences between different sites trading in fuels is a process that has been observed for several years on the market and depends on many factors. There is nothing new and it is not unusual for European Union member states. This was said in the program "Bulgaria, Europe and the World in Focus" on Radio "Focus" by the chairman of the Bulgarian Oil and Gas Association, Svetoslav Benchev.
According to him, the average price of gasoline and diesel has not increased in the last month, and there has even been a slight decrease in the price of diesel by about 1 euro cent. "There is no market testing to increase fuel prices. These are completely normal economic processes," he said and added that there are currently no price-setting factors on the market that would require an increase in fuel prices. "We are carefully monitoring the market for what is happening, but at least for the moment there are no factors that indicate an increase in the price of crude oil and, accordingly, fuels in the country," Benchev is categorical.
According to the expert, fuel fraud, such as the problem in Greece, does not exist in Bulgaria. In our country, fraud is not at the consumer level, but rather concerns the state, thus affecting all of us. "What the Center for the Study of Democracy shows is that we have a fairly serious gray sector. That is, fuels that are placed on the market without paying excise duty and VAT, with the damage reaching somewhere around 350 million euros. Where consumers see a price that is about 15-20 cents lower than the average price for the type of fuel: gasoline, diesel or LPG, it is very likely that they will come across fuel that has not paid taxes and fees. Accordingly, no one can say what its quality is," the expert warned.
Natural gas prices are moving up, but they are rising within reasonable limits, Benchev also noted, and this, according to him, is due to the cold weather in Western Europe. "The other worrying factor regarding natural gas, which also keeps prices at higher levels, is the fact that the data on how much gas is in storage in Germany and France is quite alarming. It is lower than in the same period last year. If the weather does not warm up in the coming weeks, the problem will develop and it is very possible that these prices will continue to move upwards again.“
Market mechanisms do their job very well and it is not a good idea to introduce price controls, as the Law on the Settlement of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria sets clear control bodies to control unjustified price increases.
"Even a temporary decision to control prices will lead to long-term consequences for everyone, since the price of fuel affects the prices of all other goods,“ concluded the chairman of the Bulgarian Oil and Gas Association.