Taxpayers are subsidising gas distributors by 13c3 per kilo for any loss in sales below 2013 levels, under a 15-year agreement allowing State aid, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.

This rate translates into a subsidy of €1.30 on 10kg cylinders, €1.60 on 12kg and €1.99 on 15kg. The first payments for 2014 were handed out in recent weeks with the amounts varying between €3,000 to over €20,000 for each distributor, sources said.

Though under EU rules State aid is forbidden, exceptions may be made if a particular sector is declared as being of “general economic interest”. The government has applied this measure to 31 gas distributors offering door-to-door service. The decision was justified on the grounds that it wanted to guarantee this service even in remote areas not deemed to be commercially viable.

Though the Energy Ministry has not revealed the amounts paid out, EU law states that this cannot exceed the so-called ‘de minimis level’, which is equivalent to €500,000 over any three-year period.

More in the Sunday Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.

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