Whether and to what extent gas stations and their shops will operate on Sundays will be known on Friday, by when the final version of the amendments to the Internal Trade Law will be prepared and when they will be presented to parliamentary committees, "Vijesti" learned from sources in the Parliament and oil companies.
A group of MPs is trying to ban or limit the operation of shops at gas stations, while oil companies have announced that if their shops are banned from operating on Sundays, they will also stop selling fuel on that day because it is not worth it for them to pay increased daily wages for working on Sundays from only the five cents they are entitled to per liter sold according to the regulation.
The Constitutional Court has annulled Article 35a, which refers to the ban on Sunday work in the field of trade and which lists exceptions that allow work. However, this decision of the Constitutional Court has not yet been published in the Official Gazette, and therefore has not entered into force. As explained to "Vijesti" by the Constitutional Court, the decision is before the editorial committee, where members can make any comments on the text of the explanation. The editorial procedure can last from several days to several weeks.
A group of deputies from the parliamentary majority proposed a new article with almost the same text to the Parliament, which will be presented to the parliamentary committees in the coming days, and at the plenary session on February 16. Their goal is to adopt it before the Constitutional Court's decision enters into force. However, according to information from "Vijesti", a problem arose when interpreting the position relating to gas stations.
The Law, which is still in force, which describes the exceptions, states that "on Sundays and on public and other holidays, wholesale and retail trade may be carried out in: ... gas stations and retail stores within gas stations."
The amendment submitted to the Parliament, to replace the article repealed by the Constitutional Court, states that "on Sundays and on public and other holidays, wholesale and retail trade may be carried out in: ... gas stations", i.e. the part "retail stores within gas stations" has been removed.
Representatives of oil companies believe that a gas station and a store are run as one facility, that they are one functional environment, and that it is impossible to allow the sale of one product and prohibit others in the same space, and that such a ban does not exist anywhere. They have also presented this to the group of MPs that proposed this amendment in recent days.
According to information from "Vijesti", the most likely solution is to amend the proposed article and add - "on Sundays and on national and other holidays, wholesale and retail trade can be carried out in: ... gas stations and related facilities".
The amendment to the article removes "wholesale warehouses" from the exceptions, which will no longer be able to operate on Sundays if these amendments are adopted.
Stores more profitable than fuel sales
The existing Regulation on Determining Maximum Retail Prices of Petroleum Products dates back to 2002 and since then it has provided for the same amount received by petroleum product retailers (gas stations) of five to six cents per liter of fuel, depending on the type.
Oil companies have been indicating for years that this calculation is no longer realistic, because all costs have increased many times over the past 24 years, and salary costs have increased fivefold.
Meanwhile, retailers are also being charged a fuel markup fee of 0,8 cents per liter. The companies' financial reports indicate that they earn more from operating gas station stores than from selling basic fuels.
The Ministry of Energy and Mining announced the amendment of this regulation last year. The ministry told "Vijesti" at the time that the aim of amending the regulation was to establish a fair and sustainable pricing system in order to protect consumers, but also enable economically sustainable operations of companies involved in the trade of petroleum products.
"This approach does not reflect real market conditions, because in the meantime, logistics flows, business costs, as well as the structure of imports have changed significantly," the Ministry stated at the time, explaining the necessity of increasing the share of oil companies.
Upon Montenegro's accession to the EU, any restrictions on the prices of petroleum products will cease and their prices will be freely determined.
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