Restaurants risk having to remain closed on Christmas Day as gas distributors refuse to lift their strike though making exceptions for certain institutions like hospitals and old people’s homes.

Talks that started on Wednesday continued yesterday but an agreement proved to be elusive. However, late in the day, the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU, which called the strike that today enters its third day, said gas deliveries were being made to hospitals, clinics, old people’s homes and similar institutions as from last night.

The GRTU, which represents gas distributors, has halted all supply of gas cylinders at a time considered crucial for restaurants.

The manager of a very popular family restaurant said if the strike went on, he faced having to remain closed tomorrow and over the weekend. “Our gas supply was meant to be delivered today. If we don’t get it immediately we’re going to have to close,” he said.

And if you do not feel up to a big meal, it might be even difficult to find a pastizzerija open. Steve Caruana, the owner of the Maxims cheesecakes chain, said his outlets used six 50kg gas tanks a week – practically one a day. Thus, he might have to close down over the weekend if the strike continued.

“I totally depend on gas. I thought the strike would only last a day or two and things would be resolved. If they don’t deliver gas tomorrow, I’ll have to close down over the weekend and I can’t really miss a weekend,” Mr Caruana, who employs 22 people, said.

The situation is also uncomfortable for Philip Fenech, president of the tourism, hospitality and leisure section of the GRTU.

Representing members in his sector that are being affected by the strike, he said that while he understood the gas distributors’ problem he would like the strike to end as soon as possible because he did not want members he represented to suffer, especially at such a sensitive time.

GRTU asking for €6m in compensation

Restaurateurs might have to face a cruel irony, according to chef-owner of Taverna Sugu David Darmanin. “When, last summer, there had been a spell of power cuts, people were opting to eat out more, so the same might happen if they run out of gas – people have to eat, one way or another. This would be a huge problem for restaurants because faced with an increased demand they’ll have less supply.”

The strike, which started on Wednesday, was sparked off with the entry into the market of another gas company, Easygas, which got its first consignment of gas cylinders from Sicily yesterday.

The problem is that Liquigas, which, until a few days ago was the sole LPG producer on the island, refuses to have Easygas and Liquigas cylinders on the same truck.

The GRTU is insisting what Liquigas is demanding breaches an agreement between Liquigas and distributors, which Liquigas had inherited from Enemalta when it took over gas production in 2008. This provides that licence holders were tied to a particular territory, in which no one else could sell gas.

Both Liquigas and Easygas were granted licences by the resources authority and the GRTU was taking the government to task over what it considers to be a takeover and was asking for €6 million in compensation for the 31 distributors for the breach of their licence. However, the GRTU would prefer a unified system in place where the distributors would handle all the gas in Malta.

The government is understood to be in agreement with this position deeming it more sensible for the environment.

Liquigas said last night it regretted the strike had not been lifted “as this is creating hardship to consumers and disruption to trade and business at this particular time of the year”.

It said the distributors wanted to preserve their territorial exclusivity in the cylinder distribution market by insisting they should retain a monopoly on the distribution of all sources of supply. This prevented competition at the distribution level, Liquigas argued.

“The distributors have always presented themselves and acted together as a collective entity being the GRTU. Consequently, the distributors hold a collective dominant position in the Maltese market. Ultimately, this monopoly does not serve the real interest of the consumer.”

Liquigas said it wanted to “significantly” upgrade the quality of the distribution service, so as to develop a better service for its customers.

It insisted it had the right to protect its commercial interests and “it is only reasonable it should be able to determine how its products are distributed”.

Liquigas said that, while abiding by its legal obligations, it maintained that, in the case of door to door supply of LPG cylinders by means of trucks, the consumer must have the opportunity to differentiate products even at the level of the distributor’s vehicle.

Easygas owner Ruben Farrugia said that even though his company had a licence to distribute, he had first approached distributors and it had been agreed that the grey Easygas tanks would be distributed along with the green Liquigas ones.

Asked whether he would take the opportunity and open up his depot in Luqa for sales, he said: “I have waited over three years to get a licence to get gas into Malta, I can wait a bit more.”

The GRTU and Liquigas met at the Office of Fair Competition but, after hours of talks, no developments were reported. The office has to recommend whether an interim measure should be taken, making its recommendations to the Commission for Fair Trade, which has the status of a court, that would then decide what should be done.

Gas distributors are holding their ground. Distributor Fernando Cremona said if a solution was found today, he would make a sacrifice and sell gas even on Christmas Day. “I’ll sacrifice lunch to go and serve restaurants. At that point, they might even ask me to stay.”