Greek Cypriots increasingly crossing over for cheaper fuel

More Greek Cypriots are crossing into the occupied north to fill their tanks, the customs department said on Saturday, as fuel prices in the Republic continue to rise. Speaking on CyBC, department spokesman George Constantinou said the trend appears each time prices rise or are expected to rise. He compared the present period with February and March, when the US-Israeli war with Iran broke out and seizures at the crossing points “almost quadrupled”. Before that, officers seized an average of 150 to 200 litres of fuel a month, with the figure then rising to about 500 litres each of petrol and diesel. Constantinou described the choice as “a purely moral issue” for the public, and warned that “fuel quality in the north is not supervised in the same manner” it is in the Republic. The consumer protection service’s price observatory’s latest figures show the nationwide average for unleaded 95 stands at €1.757 a litre, unleaded 98 at €1.812, diesel at €2.022 and heating oil at €1.678. Diesel ranges from €1.939 in Larnaca to €2.126 in Limassol. Unleaded 95 costs between €1.669 in Larnaca and €1.829 in Paphos and Nicosia. Prices in the north are considerably lower, for the latest figures put 95-octane petrol at 77.12 Turkish lira (€1.38) a litre and diesel at 76 lira (€1.36), making petrol about a fifth cheaper than the national average and diesel around a third cheaper.