Petrol station owners meet on Tuesday to decide what action to take over failed talks with Enemalta on demands for a higher profit margin.
They are expected to start their action by restricting sales, turning off automatic pumps at 6 p.m., but then plan to escalate their protest by switching to automatic pumps only and then even laying off attendants.
Their representative, Carlo Cini said they had no option but to take action after discussions with Enemalta led nowhere. He said the situation should have been solved by the end of January but no agreement was reached so far.
He referred to comments by Enemalta acting chairman, William Spiteri Bailey, who said on Wednesday both parties were still far from reaching an agreement on the matter.
Mr Cini said owners were not being given the extra commission they had been requesting. However, they were expected to fork out thousands of euros to upgrade their facilities.
“They have capped our profit and they have also capped our selling price. Can you tell me how we were supposed to save up to fund the upgrades expected of us according to European directives,” he asked.
According to these directives, the station owners must upgrade their underground storage facilities and the pumps.
Petrol stations must 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.
The issue began last year when the station owners had threatened to strike over the matter. Eventually, talks started and ended in “an agreement of how to reach an agreement”.
Petrol station owners get 5c1 for every litre of fuel sold. This profit margin is revised every three years and an upward increase is generally reflected in the cost of fuel, regulated by the Malta Resources Authority. It was last set 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.