Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/622858
6 MATTHEW VELLA AN investigation into the fuel mar- ket by the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority is "at an advanced stage" but the complex investigation is yet to be finalised, 12 months since it started. The probe was launched after the owner of a Rabat fuel pump had to reverse his decision to cut the price of diesel by 2c when the fuel sup- plier allegedly intervened to hike the price up again. Since then the MCCAA has been charged to establish whether Mal- ta truly had a free market when it comes to fuel. MaltaToday was told that the investigation was nearing a con- clusive stage, since a lot of submis- sions had to be analysed and vari- ous interviews carried out. At the start of 2015, Rabat petrol pump owner Mario Camilleri an- nounced he would be selling diesel 2c below the price established by the government. Motorists had no time to benefit from Camilleri's initiative, when on the same day that he advertised the cheaper diesel, he received a call from Joe Falzon, owner of Falzon Group, which supplies diesel, tell- ing him the higher profit margin he enjoyed would be withdrawn if the decision remained. The government recently an- nounced fuel price reductions at the start of the year, but both the Opposition and the president of the Malta Automobile Club insist that prices remain high when compared with the EU average, and the falling price of oil. The Nationalist Party denounced the 4c cut in the price of diesel, which it said does not reflect the global fall in the price of oil, to as low as $35 a barrel. In Malta, the state-owned En- emed is the only company that imports fuel, where it issues two tenders each year for both petrol and diesel. Two other private companies – Falzon Group and Cassar Fuels – also import diesel, although En- emed is importing a major part of the imports and enjoys a dominant position in the fuel market, abso- lutely in the case of petrol, and rela- tively high in the case of diesel. It is believed that when it comes to diesel, all three companies could be keeping their prices at the same level, which means that all fill- ing stations have exactly the same price for petrol and diesel. In October Enemed issued a ten- der for two parcels of RON98 un- leaded petrol for January and April, together with six parcels of RON95 unleaded petrol for six months from January to June 2016. But there is no clear indication at which filling stations that the RON98, which is Premium unleaded petrol, will be available at and at what price. The government has denied the existence of a cartel, insisting that fuel suppliers are at liberty to sell their products at the price they want. All fuel importers depend directly or indirectly on storage facilities that are controlled by En- emed. The Consumers' Association filed the original complaint with the MCCAA, requesting it to in- vestigate cartel practices in the sale of fuel. The Malta Automobile Club has said that it has collected enough information to submit a formal complaint to the European Com- mission, claiming that Maltese consumers are being treated as sec- ond-class EU citizens as fuel prices remain higher than in the majority of EU states. The European Commission's lat- est consumer prices of petroleum products inclusive of duties and taxes shows 18 EU Member States with petrol prices lower than in Malta, and 24 EU Member States where the price of diesel was less than in Malta. "The Malta Resources Author- ity, like the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority, has been toothless to enforce its authority on petrol station owners since two diesel suppliers joined the local market. If the two private diesel suppliers were providing die- sel at a lower cost than Enemalta or Enemed, how is it possible that the petrol station owners concerned were not exceeding the mark-up when they were selling the diesel at the same price as that supplied by Enemalta or Enemed?" MAC presi- dent Alfred A. Farrugia has said. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 JANUARY 2016 News www.maltatoday.com.mt MALTA'S TOP WEBSITE 50 MILLION page views in 2015 An increase of 16 MILLION page views in one year To advertise: Contact Jean Pierre Cassar on jpcassar@mediatoday.com.mt or Erika Arrigo on earrigo@mediatoday.com.mt Call us on 21382741 ext. 113 or 128 respectively Competition authority's fuel cartel investigation 'at advanced stage'