Competition Agency reveals oil companies sell fuel at inflated price

13:18, 09.02.2024

The Competition and Consumer Agency has released an interim monitoring report on imported fuel by oil companies and their sales prices.

Based on the report, 54 oil companies imported 1,541,612 litres of petrol and diesel fuel in 2023. No dominant importer company was observed on the market.

The highest volume of imports (62.5%) was from the Russian Federation, followed by Romania and Bulgaria.

The report said 378 companies operated 1194 petrol stations in a retail market in 2023. The share of the five leading companies is 66.2%.

The Competition Agency said fuel prices tended to decrease in the first six months but went up in the second half of 2023.

Studying the price of fuel sold on the market, the Agency revealed that oil companies sold Russian fuel on average more expensive than European fuel, and the reason for this was the relatively low acquisition cost of Russian fuel.

In October-December of 2023, leading oil companies operated only with the European fuel but sold it at the increased price.

The Agency said it would continue to study the fuel market in 2024.

By - Elene Dobordjginidze

Economics

Competition and Consumer Agency

fuel