In 2013 with the Same Fuel Prices

Retail prices of motor gasoline, euro diesel, and regular blue diesel will remain unchanged from midnight, while the price of euro-marked gas oil will decrease by 26 lipa per liter, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, which today published the highest levels of retail prices of petroleum products for the period from January 1 to January 7, 2013.

During this period, the highest price of eurosuper 95 will continue to be 10.17 kuna per liter, eurosuper 98 a maximum of 10.48 kuna, and eurosuper 100 a maximum of 10.69 kuna.

The price of euro diesel, which can be a maximum of 9.65 kuna, and blue diesel, or gas oil dyed blue, remains unchanged at 6.06 kuna.

For the first time, the Ministry has also set the highest price for blue diesel marked euro – gas oil dyed blue euro, which amounts to 6.15 kuna, while the price of euro-marked gas oil decreases by 26 lipa, from the previous 7.07 kuna per liter to 6.81 kuna.

The Ministry today announced the highest prices of derivatives in accordance with the new Regulation on determining the highest retail prices of petroleum products, which was published in the Official Gazette number 145 on December 27.

This regulation stipulates that, according to its provisions, the correction of the calculation of the highest levels of retail prices will be made on December 31, 2012, and the calculated prices will apply from January 1, 2013, while the highest levels of retail prices, according to the provisions of the new Regulation, will be regularly calculated for the first time on January 7, 2013.

Along with the new Regulation, a new Decree on the amount of excise duties on motor gasoline, gas oil, and kerosene for propulsion comes into force on the first day of 2013.

This decree, in the process of aligning with EU law, was adopted by the Government at a meeting held on December 6, and it increases excise duties by 20 lipa per liter for gasoline and by about thirty lipa for gas oils, but because the excise duties also include fees for financing the Croatian Agency for Mandatory Oil and Petroleum Product Reserves (HANDA) and fees for promoting the production of biofuels. Namely, these fees have already been included in the calculation of retail prices of petroleum products and were shown separately, but from the beginning of 2013, they are included in excise duties, and financing HANDA and promoting the production of biofuels will be carried out from the state budget.

By the Government’s decree, these fees have thus become part of the excise duties on petroleum products, and this has also been incorporated into the new Regulation on determining the highest retail prices, in which there are no longer separately stated fees for HANDA and promoting the production of biofuels in the price calculation structure, but the price calculated based on the formula is increased by excise duties and taxes according to special regulations.

In addition, there are several other changes brought by the new Regulation, for example, in the list of derivatives for which the highest prices are determined, particularly related to gas oils.

Until now, the highest price was determined for two types of heating oil – gas oil marked euro and without that mark, as well as for one type of blue diesel (gas oil dyed blue), while under the new regulation, the highest price is determined only for one type of heating oil – gas oil marked euro, and for two types of blue diesel – gas oil dyed blue with and without the euro mark.

The new Regulation has also somewhat changed the provision on the highest allowable price change – until now, prices could be corrected by a maximum of 3 percent in the case of price increases or decreases, while under the new regulation, in the case of price increases, this upper limit of a maximum of 3 percent is retained, but the threshold for price decreases is increased, so prices in relation to the applicable highest price can fall by a maximum of 6 percent.

According to the new Regulation, the change in prices of petroleum derivatives primarily depends on the movement of prices of petroleum derivatives in the Mediterranean market and the exchange rate of the US dollar, and as before, the Ministry of Economy will calculate and publish the highest retail prices of petroleum derivatives every 14 days, and oil companies can change prices during that period, but they must not exceed the maximum prices published by the Ministry.