Oil retailers in Moldova urge to stop exerting pressure on the companies that import and sell oil products and to stop politicizing and spreading lies so as not to cause an eventual fuel crisis in Moldova, IPN reports.
In a press release, a group of oil retailers say the 1 leu rise in fuel prices witnessed last weekend were determined by at least two objective factors – the recent increases in the prices of gasoline and diesel fuel on foreign markets and the quotes of the national currency. “The forcing of the gas stations to sell gasoline and diesel fuel at prices that cause losses to them will inevitably lead to the blocking of oil imports and, respectively, to a crisis that can affect all the country’s citizens who will no longer find fuel at gas stations,” warned the retailers.
They noted that a tonne of gasoline this March cost US$ 608, while in the middle of May - US$682, an increase of 12.2%. The price of diesel fuel rose from US$ 605 per tonne in March to US$ 659 per tonne in May, up 8.9%. Also, the Moldovan leu depreciated by 4.95% against the US dollar in the period, from 17.0929 lei/dollar to 17.9392 lei/dollar. As a result, the retail prices of gasoline and diesel fuel rose by 5.9% and 5.1% respectively.
“The fuel prices were modified not only in Moldova, but also in the neighboring countries Romania, and Ukraine, based on the changes in international quotes of oil products,” runs the press release.
The importers said that for almost a year the state institutions, through the agency of courts of law, demanded to freeze the prices of gasoline and diesel fuel and they thus sustains huge losses in the period. Some of the companies were close to bankruptcy and Moldova was lucky to avoid a huge fuel crisis.
The press release was signed by Petrom Moldova, Lukoil-Moldova, Bemol Retail, Datario, Tirex Petrol and the Union of Importers of Oil Products “Importcompetrol”.
