Petrol station owners have withdrawn their threat to restrict fuel sales at the height of the festive season over their demand for a higher profit margin, after agreeing terms on which an eventual deal will be based.

“There is no dispute any longer. We agreed on a structure on how to reach a final agreement,” Vince Farrugia, director general of the Chamber of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (GRTU), said when contacted at the end of a long meeting with Enemalta yesterday, chaired by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech.

The meeting was granted after station owners said they had resolved to take industrial action if Enemalta did not meet their demands for an increase in their profit margin. Their first move was to have been a closure of the automatic pumps which normally come into operation at 6 p.m.

Petrol pump owners make a profit of 5c1 per litre, a margin revised every three years, with an upward increase generally reflecting the cost of fuel. This figure is regulated by the Malta Resources Authority and the last time this was revised was in 2007.

The owners are demanding an extra 3c2 as commission per litre of fuel sold. This includes a 1c1 increase in their profit and a further 2c1 towards the refurbishment of the 89 petrol stations spread across the country.

Petrol stations must also meet EU standards by 2020 and their refurbishment costs are estimated at about €25 million. A fund previously set up by Enemalta for this purpose was only estimated to have added up to €4 million by July.

Mr Farrugia said they had agreed on the terms of how to reach a final deal. These include the appointment of a private firm of auditors to assess the owners’ claims, also within the context of their audited accounts.

The increase in profit would cover higher costs, mainly in wages and utilities.

The first meeting between the GRTU and Enemalta started in the morning. After a discussion on the basics, they decided to postpone the meeting by a couple of hours and return with their positions, Mr Farrugia said.

At the second meeting at the Finance Ministry in the afternoon, the parties agreed to resume talks in January.

Mr Farrugia refused to divulge deadlines listed in the agreement signed yesterday, saying this would create extra pressure. “There is no dispute. That’s what is important,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Consumers’ Association called on the Consumer and Competition Division to investigate petrol station owners, who, it said, were acting like a “cartel”. It said it was concerned that the increases which the owners were seeking would be passed on to consumers. On the other side, Enemalta had a monopoly in the provision of fuel, it said.

The association has written to the Malta Resources Authority expressing its concerns and also questioned the way the authority established fuel prices.

The GRTU shot down the association’s accusations which it described as “unethical” and “ridiculous”.

The GRTU was representing the petrol station owners in talks with the government and Enemalta, and it had consistently abided by competition rules and by the authority’s decisions, the public regulator in the field of resources.

The authority, it said, had decided on a programme of investments that had to be implemented by petrol station owners so that in pursuit of higher standards to consumers and to the environment in general, all petrol stations in Malta and Gozo attained EU approved standards. This involved a €26 million investment.

“There is no way this investment can be sustained without a restructuring of the whole structure of cost within the whole fuel distribution chain. This involves a review of costs by Enemalta and petrol station owners and a final decision by the MRA as to what prices will be made available to consumers,” the GRTU said.

In this process, it said, the MRA was representing the interests of users and consumers, Enemalta was the only supplier of petrol and the major supplier of diesel to all petrol stations and the GRTU was the representative of all petrol station owners.

“All three parties are interested in ensuring our country will have the highest quality where petrol stations are concerned,” the GRTU said.

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