The number of EU member states where the price of petrol is less than in Malta has gone up to 24. This was confirmed by the consumer prices of petroleum products inclusive of duties and taxes published by the European Commission in its weekly Oil Bulletin on February 22.
The states where the price of petrol is less than in Malta are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
The only countries where the price of petrol is higher than in Malta are Denmark, Italy andthe Netherlands.
The price of petrol in five EU countries is less than €1! In Poland the price of petrol is 90.4 cents, that is 41.6 cents lower than in Malta, or 31.5 per cent less.
How much profit is Enemed making from the sale of petrol? Considering that the state-owned company Enemed was scheduled to import 13,800 metric tonnes of petrol in January and February of this year, that is 18.9 million litres, it can be calculated that if it succeeded to procure its petrol supplies at the same rate as Cyprus, then Enemed has made €3.5 million in excess profit, over and above its normal profit in two months.
The government is collecting 75.1 cents per litre in duties and taxes on the sale of petrol, which is more than the cost of petrol itself including the profit margin, which amounts to 56.9 cents per litre.
Has Enemed made €3.5 million in excess profits on petrol in two months?
So why does the state-owned company need to make exaggerated profits over and above the duties and taxes collected by the government, at the expense of consumers? Why are Maltese consumers treated as second-class EU citizens?
If Enemed is not competent enough to procure its supplies at competitive prices, as the majority of the EU states are succeeding in doing, why is the government retaining the dominant position of Enemed in the local market?
In the view of the Malta Automobile Club, the importation, storage and wholesale of petrol and diesel should not be government business, and if this government really believes in the private sector, it should make room for the local representatives of the foreign oil companies to compete among themselves and offer local consumers the lowest possible prices of petrol and diesel.
There are 25 EU states where the price of diesel is lower than in Malta. These are the same EU countries where petrol is lower than in Malta with the exception of Sweden and the UK, but including Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands.
There are 16 EU countries where diesel is less than €1. In Poland the price of diesel is 84.4 cents per litre that is 37.6 cents less than Malta, or 30.8% less.
The Minister for Energy has been reported to have said in a section of the media that he is not pleased with the way the local diesel market operates.
It is useless for Konrad Mizzi to blame the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA). He has the power to remove the dominant position of Enemed, but apparently he does not have the political will to do so.
Alfred Farrugia is president of the Malta Automobile Club.