The Czech Republic announces a fight against fuel prices. Babisz called on Orlen to lower prices

The Czech government is to deal with the issue of margin regulation and other possible actions towards the fuel industry on Monday, Prime Minister Andrej Babisz and Finance Minister Alena Schillerova agreed on Friday. Fuel prices have been rising rapidly since late February, when the conflict in Iran broke out.

A liter of 95-octane petrol costs on average in the Czech Republic 41.51 crowns, or approximately PLN 7.26. In the case of diesel it is this 47.92 crowns, i.e. PLN 8.38.

Schillerova told Czech public television that on Tuesday and Wednesday the ministry recorded a significant increase in fuel prices, especially at gas stations of the largest chains on highways. On Thursday Babisz called on the main fuel distributors – Orlen, MOL and OMV – to reduce prices fuels and not taking advantage of the conflict in the Middle East. He called current prices “outrageous.”

In response, ORLEN Unipetrol sent a statement to the media, emphasizing that prices at gas stations are determined by the market.

– The company does not comment on statements made by government representatives to the media. We fully cooperate with the Ministry of Finance, to which we send a transparent price report every week, said ORLEN Unipetrol spokesman, Pavel Kaidl.

Margin control is so far the only measure related to rising prices that the authorities have resorted to. Distributors must report prices and margins on a daily basis. Until the Prime Minister's statement on Thursday, there were no negative signals about their use. Previous inspections have shown that after the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East, margins even decreased.

In 2022, the previous Czech government, led by Petr Fiala, decided to reduce the excise tax on diesel oil when fuel prices were rising. The Minister of Finance said that currently she does not even recommend changing VAT on fuels. However, he leaves all possibilities open for the future.

– If the conflict escalates, I cannot rule anything out – she warned.

From Prague Piotr Górecki (PAP)

ptg/ mal/