There is panic all over the world due to the rise in fuel prices after a barrel of oil exceeded 80 dollars, and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a jump in the price of black gold to 100 dollars per barrel is quite possible.
The rise in oil prices on world stock exchanges is spilling over into the Serbian retail market, domestic oilmen estimate and say that only a reduction in state levies on fuel (excise or taxes) can protect consumers from a price shock.
Recalling that a barrel of Brent oil has jumped by 64% since the beginning of the year, as a result of which a liter of fuel in Serbia has risen in price by 20 cents and is now at around 1.3 euros, oilmen estimate that if Putin’s projections come true, oil derivatives in our country could become more expensive by another 10 cents per liter.
Nebojsa Atanackovic, the owner of an oil company, thinks that the announcement of the Russian president that a barrel will go to 100 dollars is very certain.
– Now we have a situation where all energy prices have risen. We have increases of one cent per day. In the last 10 days, the price of fuel jumped by 11 cents. Prices could rise by another 10 cents, but it is ungrateful to predict that, especially the period when it will happen. Prices at the pumps are still not following the growth of wholesale prices due to stocks purchased earlier, but that will be leveled within a month. I expect that the state will react by reducing excise taxes and mitigating the growth of the retail price in order to protect citizens – said Atanackovic.
He believes that such a move would not damage the budget much because it would maintain fuel consumption, which could be falling due to too high prices.
The Secretary General of the Association of Oil Companies of Serbia (UNKS), Tomislav Micovic, is somewhat more optimistic and points out that the price of a barrel has been slightly falling in the previous two days, and he expects it to stabilize at the level of 80 dollars soon.
– In order to protect the citizens from high prices, the state can reduce the duties on oil derivatives – said Micovic.
By the way, according to UNKS data, excises, VAT and fees make up more than 50 percent of the retail price of fuel.
When it comes to supply, the interlocutors of the media say that the citizens should not worry because Serbia has enough fuel in its reserves, the state is increasing the obligatory oil reserves, and from the middle of next year, the road workers must have their operational stocks, Srbija Danas reports.
