On the initiative of the Sectoral Head of Development and Investments of the SYRIZA-PS, Alexis Haritsis, in cooperation with the deputy ministers, Haris Mamoulakis & Yannis Sarakiotis, 62 MPs of SYRIZA - PS submitted a question on the publication of qualitative and quantitative data of controls at petrol stations.
As the SYRIZA-PS MPs note, inflation has reached 11.3% in May, setting a 28-year historical record, while fuel prices since January have surpassed the all-time high ever recorded in the country and are stabilizing at extremely high prices (the price of unleaded reached 2.428 €/l on 18/6/2022).
The government's persistent refusal to take substantial measures to support households and businesses creates a suffocating economic framework. This is also reflected in the report of the General Accounting Office for the first 4 months of 2022, which showed a decrease in revenue of 112 million euros from fuel excise tax, due to the drop in turnover at petrol stations, which according to the Panhellenic Federation of Fuel Retailers reaches up to 80%.
The Ministry of Development & Investments announces through press releases fragmentary checks, which are carried out by the Interdepartmental Market Control Unit (DII.M.E.A.) of the Ministry, as well as the imposition of fines on petrol stations, which violate the existing provisions on unfair profitability. It has not, however, to date, made public aggregate data on the number of inspections carried out and the number of infringements recorded.
Because Greek households and businesses are being affected by the fuel price increases
Because liquid fuel prices have stabilised for almost 6 months at an all-time high
Because, the prices of liquid fuels continue to move up every day
Because, at this juncture, it is important to comply with existing legislation and to protect consumers
SYRIZA-PS MPs asked the Minister responsible:
- Does the Government intend to take substantial measures to relieve households and businesses from fuel price increases?;
- How many checks in total have been carried out at petrol stations since the beginning of the year?;
- How many infringements have been recorded since the beginning of the year and how many fines have been imposed? For which infringements of the legislation in force have the fines been imposed?;
- Has the Ministry proceeded with the activation of A.119 of Law 4926/2022 for the publication of the trade name of companies that violate par. 1 of article 58 of Law No. 4818/2021 (A 124) and if so, for how many companies has it been applied since the beginning of the year?;
The text of the question:
QUESTION
To the Minister
Development & Investment
Subject: «To make public the quantitative and qualitative data of the controls at petrol stations»
According to the latest ELSTAT data for May 2022, inflation soared to 11.3%, setting a 28-year record. In fact, according to Eurostat data for the same month, Greece is 2.6 points above the European average and has the highest inflation in Western Europe. Due to the choices made by the government, the country is being driven into an unprecedented economic and social crisis. Unfortunately, all the assessments point to a medium- to long-term condition.
Fuel is one of the product categories with the largest price increases. The price of unleaded petrol exceeded for the first time in January the historic high reached in August 2012 (€1.838/l). Since then, liquid fuel prices have been rising continuously. The price of unleaded reached 2.428 €/l on 18/6/2022, compared to 1.626 €/l on the same day last year.
The government's refusal to take substantial measures to support households and businesses creates a suffocating economic framework. While the meagre benefits provided are far from the real needs of consumers. This is reflected in the report of the General Accounting Office of the State for the first 4 months of 2022, which showed a decrease in revenue of 112m euros from the fuel excise tax, due to the drop in turnover at petrol stations, which according to the Panhellenic Federation of Fuel Retailers reaches up to 80%.
At the same time the Ministry of Development & Investment announces through press releases piecemeal inspections, which are carried out by the Interdepartmental Market Control Unit (IMEA) of the Ministry, as well as the imposition of fines on petrol stations that violate the existing provisions on unfair profitability. Moreover, according to Article 50 of Law 4903/2022, it is prohibited until 30/6/2022 to make gross profit from the sale of any product or the provision of any service necessary, inter alia, for the transport of the consumer, when the gross profit margin per unit exceeds the corresponding gross profit margin per unit before 1of.9.2021.
To date, however, the Ministry has not published aggregate data on the number of checks and violations recorded at petrol stations. Almost a month ago, the Minister of Development & Investment informed about some individual inspections by the IMEA, according to which there were 26% of violations, without disclosing qualitative data of the violations recorded as requested by the petrol station dealers.
It is recalled that according to A.119 of Law 4926/2022, the publication of the trade name of companies that violate Para. 1 of article 58 of Law No. 4818/2021 (A 124), on exceptional measures to curb the phenomena of unfair profitability, in cases where a) it has been imposed an administrative fine of more than fifty thousand (50,000) euros or, b) it has been imposed an administrative fine for the second time, regardless of the amount, for violation of Article 58 of Law No. 4818/2021.
Because Greek households and businesses are being affected by the fuel price increases
Because liquid fuel prices have stabilised for almost 6 months at an all-time high
Because, the prices of liquid fuels continue to move up every day
Because, at this juncture, it is important to comply with existing legislation and to protect consumers
Will the Minister responsible answer the following questions
- Does the Government intend to take substantial measures to relieve households and businesses from fuel price increases?;
- How many checks in total have been carried out at petrol stations since the beginning of the year?;
- How many infringements have been recorded since the beginning of the year and how many fines have been imposed? For which infringements of the legislation in force have the fines been imposed?;
- Has the Ministry proceeded to the activation of A.119 of Law 4926/2022 for the publication of the trade name of the infringing undertakings Para. 1 of article 58 of Law No. 4818/2021 (A 124) and if so, for how many companies has it been applied since the beginning of the year?;
The questioning MPs
Alexander Haritsis (Alexis)
Mamoulakis Charalambos (Haris)
Sarakiotis Ioannis
Avramakis Eleftherios
Alexiadis Tryfon
Anagnostopoulou Sia
Arachovitis Stavros
Augeri Dora
Akhtsioglou Efi
Vagena Anna
Vardakis Socrates
Varemenos Georgios
Vetta Kalliopi
Olga Gerovassili
Yannoulis Christos
Gara Natasha
Gkiolas Ioannis
Dragasakis Ioannis
Dritsas Theodoros
Eleftheriadou Sultana
Konstantinos Zachariadis
Zabeck Hussein
Higoumenidis Nikolaos
Thrapsaniotis Emmanouil
Kalamatianos Dionysios
Kasimatis Nina
Katrougalos Georgios
Katsis Marios
Kafantari Chara
Kokalis Vasileios
Lappas Spyridon
Malama Sunday
Constantine Markou
Meikopoulos Alexandros
Michaelides Andreas
Mouzalas Ioannis
Balafas Ioannis
Barkas Konstantinos
Bournous Ioannis
Moraitis Thanos
Ekaterini Notopoulou
Xanthopoulos Theophilos
Xenogiannakopoulou Mariliza
Papadopoulos Athanasios
Papailiou Georgios
Papanatsiou Aikaterini
Perch Petey
Polakis Pavlos
Poulou Yiota
Santorini Nektarios
Panagiotis Skourletis
Syrmalenios Nikolaos
Tzoufi Meropi
Tolkass Angelos
Alexandros Triantafylopoulos
Famellos Socrates
Filis Nikolaos
Fotiou Theano
Dimitrios Charitou
Hatzigiannakis Miltiadis
Christidou Rallia
Psychogios Georgios
