Petrol dealers, Fegica and Faib: "Price cap on fuel is governmental, not private"

The fuel price cap has been adopted for years in Europe, decided by the state. It exists in Belgium and Luxembourg, now the German government has also announced it. But if it is placed by a private operator, which is also the market leader, it is inevitable that imbalances will be created.

Fegica, together with Faib-Confesercenti (the two petrol station unions, editor's note), presented a detailed proposal on the price cap in the Senate, not on a voluntary basis, but on a government basis. Only in this way could we have fair measures, without causing damage to some companies." A representative of Fegica explained this to ANSA.

"Eni, IP and Q8 (the three companies that have adopted the price cap, editor's note) together have just under half of the Italian sales points, 9,000 out of 20,000, and just over half of the market share, around 55% - continues Fegica -. They have integrated supply chains, in the sense that they also produce fuel and supply their own points of sale and those of other operators. If they lower prices on their own initiative, they create problems for everyone else, who has to buy on the market. The white pumps struggle to find the product, because the large groups that offer discounts sell more, and find it at high prices, which do not allow them to be competitive".

For Fegica "in an emergency it is fine to cut prices, but then we must understand that instruments such as the price cap should be regulated fairly, with certain parameters set by the public administration, not left to the decisions of the operators".