TIRANA, Dec. 11 – Inspired by France’s yellow vest protests, citizens in central and northern Albanian regions took to the streets on Monday afternoon, calling for lower oil prices and a cut in overall taxes, temporarily blocking roads and highways.
Chanting anti-government slogans, protesters in the opposition Democratic Party-led Shkodra and Lezha municipalities as well as in Kavaja, central Albania, called on government to revise the high tax burden on fuel that make Albania’s fuel prices one of Europe’s highest, and also complained about what they called unaffordable increase in the cost of living.
Protesters also showed solidarity with student protests in Tirana, demanding a cut in tuition fees and better standards in Albania’s public universities.
“We have the most expensive oil in the region and in Europe. I call on the Albanian businesses to join us in protests and support students and our children who have taken to the streets to fight for their rights and our issues,” a protestor in Kavaja, a town some 50 km from Tirana, said as protesters temporarily blocked one side of the highway linking central and southern Albania.
Reacting to protests, Prime Minister Edi Rama noted with irony that it was opposition staff of the municipalities of Shkodra, Lezha and Kavaja that were protesting as ‘farmers, drivers and French citizens” in the oil price demonstrations.
Due to the high tax burden levied on oil, Albania’s has one of Europe’s highest oil prices, but poorest income, with a chain effect on their cost of living and economy in general.
The last time the government directly increased taxes on fuel was in 2014-15 when the circulation tax levied on fuel was risen by a total of 20 lek (€0.16)/l over 2014-15. Fuel traders say high prices also reflect a sharp hike in license fees since 2017.
With crude oil prices having dropped to a year-low of $60 a barrel in the past few weeks following an upward trend that took them to a three and a half-year high of $80 a barrel last October, the situation has not yet been reflected on local prices which have significantly increased this year, reflecting both international oil prices and higher local costs following a hike in license fees for fuel traders.
Diesel and petrol in Albania currently trade at 180 lek (€1.42)/liter, also reflecting lower domestic refining following the temporary suspension of work at the country’s main refiner in early 2018 leading to a sharp hike in oil imports.
At €1.47/liter, Albania’s diesel prices were among Europe’s highest and the Western Balkan’s highest this week, significantly higher compared to neighboring Macedonia’s €0.95/l and Montenegro’s €1.2/l and even more expensive compared to Germany, Europe’s leading economy, at €1.37/l, according to the Global Petrol Prices portal.
Albania is a major oil producer but due to the poor quality and heavy refining needs of domestically produced oil, the Balkan country imports the overwhelming majority of its needs.
Media investigations have unveiled Albania has one of the region’s poorest oil quality, and almost everything goes unpunished despite a series of negative effects on the environment, pollution-related diseases and some 430,000 vehicles possessed by Albanians.
The fuel trading market, one of the country’s biggest industries, is represented by more than 1,000 fuel stations with an annual turnover of more than €1 billion, half of which goes in taxes that consumers pay in excise, circulation, VAT and carbon taxes.
Last October, the country’s competition watchdog suspended tender procedures on a controversial concession in the oil and gas inspection following a complaint by a Switzerland-based company over tailor-made criteria favoring a local Albanian company that has also been awarded a bonus for its unsolicited proposal.
The tender to select a concessionaire to inspect fuel and liquid gas measurement systems for the next 20 years, switching to private hands a service currently carried out by the state-run Directorate of Metrology, was initially scheduled for Oct. 18, but will now be recalled only after a decision by the competition appeals body and if no legal battle is initiated with administrative courts.
