Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis highlighted the need for greater transparency in the pricing mechanism of the fuel supply-distribution chain as the high costs trickled down to the Greek consumer at the fuel pump despite declining costs in the international markets, during an interview on Greek radio Wednesday.
While acknowledging the Greek state had some of the highest fuel tax rates in Europe, a necessity, as he explained to support state revenues, the Greek Prime Minister queried how the fluctuating costs in the global petrol markets failed to show up at the local petrol stations in the country.
“We sometimes notice that when international prices drop, the market takes a little longer to adjust. Let everyone keep in mind that this is something that concerns us, and we will exhaust our capabilities to ensure that there are no practices in the refining and fuel distribution chain that ultimately harm the consumer.”
Mitstotakis commented on his recent intervention at the European level to check the large price discrepancies of products by multinational corporations between EU member-states.
“We are opening a front against multinational companies, but I am compelled to do so because I cannot tolerate that in a single market, by adopting various tricks and accounting schemes, they end up charging the same product at a higher price in smaller markets like Greece compared to larger markets such as France or Germany.”
The Greek Premier recently forwarded a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presenting a series of measures and actions to address the issue.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis highlighted the “significant interventions” his government had done in the operation of the domestic market, citing the many fines imposed for profiteering, as well as multiple inspections.
The Greek Prime Minister continued by stressing he was highlighting the “European dimension” of the problem concerning the practices of multinational companies’ pricing in the European market.
