‘We are making sure there are no cartels’ in fuel supply

Ongoing investigations into fuel prices “to make sure there are no cartels” were scrutinised on Friday by the House finance committee, which discussed the €2.75 million budget proposed for the Commission for the Protection of Competitiveness. The finance committee also looked into the particularities of Cyprus as an island state, which lead to oligopolies in the Cypriot market, which commission chairwoman Eva Pantzari said was a small and isolated economy. MPs demanded detailed information on the results of the audits and expressed concern over the buying out of private hospitals, with finance committee chairman Diko MP Chrysis Pantelides saying that at a time of soaring prices and high inflation it was necessary to protect competitiveness. Pantzari said that from January to October this year, the commission received 74 complaints, eight of which did not provide sufficient information to facilitate further investigation. Referring to the fuel price audit, Pantzari said it was focusing on the retail prices and supply terms for 95- and 98-octane petrol, but could not provide details as the investigation was still ongoing. According to Pantzari, regulating the fuel supply in Cyprus was not feasible due to the fact that Cyprus was a small state and fuel companies did not maintain offices here. The same goes for banks, she said, with the large ones not bothering with opening in Cyprus. All the commission could do, she added, was to make sure there were no cartels. “Oligopolies are something we see in an economy such as Cyprus’, which is a small economy, an island, far from any other country. Everything arrives by ship, there is no land transport of products to Cyprus […] and keeping tabs on this is often difficult,” she added. Replying to questions raised by MPs concerning the accumulation of private hospitals under an investment fund, Pantzari said there was nothing of the sort to report. “Okypy [state health services] is the larged provider and has its own hospitals […] and we have approved some acquisitions. If you look at how many beds Okypy has, it is the one with a dominant position in the market,” Pantzari pointed out. Having a dominant position was not a problem, but exploiting it was, she added. Pantzari also said the commission was looking into online commercial platforms to determine the level of competition between providers, and that the commission had wrapped up an investigation into the production and supply of goat, sheep and cow milk, and made proposals for the operation and competitiveness of the sector.