Full excise duty on diesel restored

The government made a decision at around 23 p.m. the night before, an hour before the deadline for new fuel prices, to reintroduce full excise taxes on Eurodiesel of 44 cents, while increasing excise taxes on two types of gasoline to 95 percent of the full price, or 52,15 cents per liter, up from the full 54,9 cents.

The government only announced this decision yesterday around 10 am, ten hours after its implementation began.

A liter of Eurodiesel, according to stock exchange prices, should have fallen by 12 cents since yesterday, but it has only fallen by three cents because the Government has reduced the excise tax from 35,2 cents to 44 cents. So, Eurodiesel costs 1,66 euros as of yesterday. Before the outbreak of the new crisis in the Middle East, at the end of February, the price of Eurodiesel was 1,34 euros, meaning it is now 32 cents more expensive.

Super 98 was supposed to be ten cents cheaper as of yesterday, but due to the return of part of the excise tax, it went up one cent to 1,69 euros. Before the crisis, its price was 1,43 euros.

Super 95 was supposed to be cheaper by 11 cents as of yesterday, but its price remained the same at 1,65 euros, due to the return of part of the excise tax. A liter of this fuel cost 1,40 euros before the crisis.

Compared to the end of February, a liter of Eurodiesel is now 32 cents more expensive, and two types of gasoline are 26 and 25 cents more expensive. The state earns from this increase through a 21 percent value added tax, which is also calculated on the amount of excise duty. Due to the increase in the basic price of fuel, compared to the end of February, the state now receives five to 6,5 cents more per liter.

On March 20, the government made a decision to temporarily reduce excise duties on diesel by 50 percent and on two types of gasoline by 25 percent. However, as fuel prices on international exchanges fell, the government gradually restored excise duties, which did not result in a significant reduction in retail prices for domestic consumers.

The government most often changed excise tax amounts on Monday evenings, a few hours before the deadline for price changes, which left room for suspicion that someone could know the details of such decisions in advance, given that excise tax is paid upon fuel import, that is, the moment the quantity is declared for import to customs authorities.