Govt to contract foreign company for fuel marking

TIRANA, Aug. 29 – Government has announced it will award a concession contract to a foreign company to mark and monitor fuel in the country in order to prevent its smuggling.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha said the measure will protect consumers and prevent any kind of smuggling.
Several oil companies have been suspended and had their licences revoked during this year because of trading fuel not meeting standards and smuggling.
Early in 2011, a massive fraud scheme involving the gasoline and diesel distribution system, selling mixed premium products with inferior byproducts that could have damaged thousands of vehicles and cost consumers millions was unveiled. The probe has led to charges for 13 men, both public officials and businesspeople.
Fuel prices in Albania have slightly increased after the entrance into force of a new tax increasing the carbon tax for diesel and petrol by 5 lek (3.6 Eurocent) in late August.
Retail diesel prices vary from 173 to 179 lek/litre while petrol prices range from 173 to 179 lek/litre.
Starting from January 2012, the carbon tax will increase by another 2 lek/litre or 7 lek compared to current prices, says the Finance Ministry. The increase in the carbon tax came after majority deputies recently approved in Parliament some changes which lift customs duties for imported cars, making them subject only to the 20 percent value added tax. The current annual traffic and registration taxes car owners pay have been replaced by a new formula similar to that of import in customs procedures. The new draft law excludes cars produced during the past three years from their annual taxes but applies a progressive coefficient of 0.18 for cars produced in the past three years and a +0.01 coefficient for each year before. The new formula increases taxes for cars older than 10 years and keeps annual taxes for newer cars at the same or slightly lower levels.