The Government has made two important decisions – to slash VAT on fuel and to release emergency oil stocks in order to hedge against spikes in energy and product prices, Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told a press conference after Sunday’s government session on measures to ease the impact of soaring fuel prices. Mickoski notes that a decision has also been made to declare a nationwide state of crisis in order to enable necessary legal action and ensure institutional enforcement.
With the Government’s decision, starting Monday at midnight, the VAT on fuel is reduced in the next two weeks from 18 to 10 percent, which means lowering fuel prices from MKD 6 to MKD 7 per liter.
“We have a plan, not just with one or two steps, but with a whole series of elaborate scenarios, if the crisis worsens or continues. Our calculations show that, if the Government had not intervened, the Regulatory Commission would have made a decision on Monday to increase the price of diesel by 10.5 denars per liter, as well as to increase the price of unleaded fuels by 6 denars – which would have meant an additional burden for citizens,” Mickoski noted.
The PM stressed that he expects the Regulatory Commission to take this decision of the Government into account Monday and that it will not increase the price of fuels, adding that the electricity sector in the country is stable.
