[ad_1]
A liter of diesel is currently traded at 252 Lek per liter, close to the historical maximum levels of 265 Lek per liter, reached a few weeks ago.
Since the beginning of March, when oil began to rise rapidly in the domestic market due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the government created the Transparency Board, which periodically sets the wholesale and retail prices of oil, gasoline and gas. according to a formula based on stock exchange purchase prices, taxes, operating costs and a profit margin.
Despite the board’s intervention, the price of oil has continued to rise, reflecting changes in the stock market. Since the establishment of the Board, when fuel was traded at around 230-235 Lek, oil has become more expensive by 7-9%.
The Association of Hydrocarbon Companies told “Monitor” that the fixing of prices by the Board has only been to the detriment of both companies and consumers, as it has given operators less opportunity to buy efficiently, causing the prices of fixed to be higher in real terms than they would be if the market were left free. “Due to the interventions of the Board, the price of oil in the domestic market is at least 5% more expensive than it would be if it were decided by the market itself”, said the Association. According to these estimates, the price of oil today would be 240 Lek per liter, from 252 Lek, which is currently, or 12 Lek less per liter.
“The price on the stock exchange shows big fluctuations, with +- 200-300 USD/ton. In a free market, each operator, with the study he makes of the markets, takes the risk of closing contracts at the moment of market decline. But under the conditions that the Board stands on its head, no one dares to buy more than the daily needs because they are afraid that a bigger drop will lead them directly to a loss with no opportunity to sell. There is no place in the world for price to move in the retail market every day. Even in countries that try to take price control to the extreme, they do the moves at most once a month, when the market has a strong trend. What our Board is doing is unprecedented. It makes no sense that at 5 in the afternoon someone buys oil for 243 Lek and at 6 in the afternoon, someone else buys it for 252 Lek”.
The association clarifies that this intervention has also led to price fluctuations in the opposite direction in the local market and on the stock exchange. “On Friday, oil rose on the stock exchange by 75 USD/ton. From Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday today, companies have sold at a loss. If they were free to act, they would have bought on the stock market for 10 days from Wednesday to Thursday. Those that are supplied today or tomorrow will be lost if it falls tomorrow. If you look at the international market, there was an increase on Friday, on Saturday and Sunday there is no oil trading, reference Platz, while on Monday the price on the stock exchange fell a little”.
According to the Association, these interventions are only misleading the public opinion and increasing the costs of enterprises. “People are rightly confused that on Monday, when the stock market fell, the price in the local market was increased by the Board. The latter reflects the increase of the delay by 4-5 days and the decrease immediately. This is not worth anything to the consumer or the enterprise, it simply creates chaos and stress for everyone. Therefore, in a free market with many operators, it is impossible to try to set a unique price without logic where each enterprise has different costs as in operation, as in purchasing opportunities. Transparency means to analyze the market, is there a barrier to the entry of new operators, and if there is, then reform and open the market. Likewise, the Competition Authority should observe whether there is an agreement on price fixing, while the tax authorities should check whether purchases and sales are correctly declared and whether taxes are paid correctly”.
Small businesses are going bankrupt and evasion is increasing
The association says that this price intervention is hurting small companies the most, leading them to bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, operators claim that evasion has increased, especially from small points in the districts. The change in prices is bankrupting the small ones, because if they have high-priced stocks and the Board lowers the price the next day, this is causing them to maneuver with the quantities declared at the pumps.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
