Price of fuel to drop by 2.5 RSD - new prices of derivatives starting September 12th?

The prices of fuel on gas stations in Serbia may be decreased by about 2.5 RSD per liter at average starting Saturday (September 12th, 2009). Thus, the price of motor gasoline would drop from current 105 RSD to 102.5 RSD, while euro-diesel would cost 100 RSD instead of current 102.5 RSD.

The Ministry of Energy and Mining should make the price list of derivatives tomorrow, while the new prices may be introduced on Saturday.

This should represent a certain relief for drivers, but it should be mentioned that it is only the second decrease in price of derivatives in 2009. On the other hand, the prices of fuel were increased twelve times this year, either because of the increase in oil price in the market or because of the growth of excise taxes, so that Serbia is now the country with the most expensive fuel in the region.

The price of crude oil, based on which corrections are made every 15 days, has dropped on the global stock exchanges in the last few days. Since the last correction, the price has been decreased by about 5%, so that the prices of derivatives in our country could be lowered by 2.5 RSD per liter.

The prices of oil derivatives in our country were last time increased on August 26th by about 3.5 RSD per liter, so that the price of gasoline almost reached the last year's price when one barrel of oil cost nearly 150 USD.

When asked why Serbia was among the countries with the most expensive oil derivatives in the region, the Minister of Energy, Petar Škundrić, said that their prices depended on excise taxes and expensive refining process in local refineries.

- There are countries with higher prices of derivatives. It is true that Serbia is among the most expensive countries in the region when it comes to fuel, but our refinery was the only one destroyed. The prices of oil derivatives must be higher because we have to invest in refurbishment of refineries, especially in creation of technical-technological conditions, so we could reach high standard of environment protection - said Škundrić.