By Sara Kovač (Nova24tv)
Slovenia’s likely new Prime Minister, Robert Golob, who has recently accused the current government of Janez Janša of withdrawing some of the bonuses it offered Slovenian citizens, was asked before the elections whether the prices of fuel will still be regulated by the state after the elections. At the time, Golob told the media outlet Žurnal24 that he believes that natural gas and electricity prices that will likely rise in autumn are bigger problems, and he also emphasised that “freezing everything does not work, that would be a waste of money, which we would sooner or later run out of, and then remain naked and barefoot.” Regarding fuels, he expressed his opinion that the pressure on prices has already eased. Meanwhile, the energy company Petrol has already denied the allegations of cartel collusions among the fuel providers.
According to the Slovenian Press Agency, President of the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje svoboda) Robert Golob, President of the Social Democrats party (Socialni demokrati – SD) Tanja Fajon, and the coordinator of the Left party (Levica) Luka Mesec have said that the first official round of coalition negotiations was successful. A timetable for further negotiations was set yesterday, and they want to form a government by the 3rd of June. Fajon admitted that they have not talked about the specific content yet, but that they reviewed how they would coordinate the ministries. “You can expect a strong and stable government that respects the people, that listens to civil society, and will follow the development decade,” she added and explained that all involved parties have big developmental goals. From what has been said, one could conclude that by 2030, they will still not have been able to do even a quarter of what the current government of Janez Janša has done in two years – and the new government also intends to abolish all of these positive changes.
“This really only shows that all of the bonuses were handed out with strings attached to them – and now that the elections are over, the bonuses are being withdrawn,” Golob said, according to the 24ur web portal, about the current government’s decision to not regulate fuel prices anymore. He believes that the government is trying to hurt people and is taking its revenge for the defeat in the elections. Golob also pointed out that there is suspicion of cartel collusions among the fuel traders, as their prices were very harmonised. When Golob was asked before the elections whether the fuel prices would still be regulated by the state after the elections, he said that regulation must be targeted and selective, and “we need to know for whom we are regulating them, why, and until when. Freezing everything does not work; that would be a waste of money, which we would sooner or later run out of, and then remain naked and barefoot,” he said, explaining that we have categories of people who need to be protected and categories that do not need this protection.
Energy company Petrol denies allegations of collusion
Petrol independently determines its pricing policy for motor fuels and does not coordinate with other providers; the energy company responded to Golob’s statement on suspicion of cartel collusions. In its response given to the Slovenian Press Agency, Petrol reminded everyone of the findings of the Competition Protection Agency, which published a report on the research of the motor fuels market last December. “The report found that the purchase price of fuel has the greatest impact on the retail price of motor fuels. The Agency also found that prices among providers were not always the same after deregulation, but often the same dates of changes in retail prices were noted among different providers,” Petrol explained. The Agency also added that the system of forecasting and changing prices in Slovenia through the web application goriva.si (fuel.si) enables quick adjustments of prices of other providers.
The government decided to temporarily regulate the retail prices of certain petroleum products on the 14th of March due to severe disruptions in the international and domestic market for petroleum products and significant price fluctuations. The regulation was in force until the end of April, and the government decided not to extend it last Friday. The prices of petroleum products have been determined by the market since the 1st of May and, as expected, rose on Sunday. Fuel prices are somewhat lower because of the lower excise duties. Last week, the government extended the validity of reduced excise duties on energy until the end of July.
Golob also recently said that the future coalition partners have already discussed how to coordinate the content of the programme and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia Act. According to him, they have not yet decided in which part it will be changed, but he announced changes both in the names and the distribution of departments. “Today, we presented the starting points, and coordination is yet to come,” he said. Regarding the distribution of positions, for which it has been said that four ministerial posts could go to the SD party and three to the Left, he said that for now, they are within these estimations, “plus or minus one ministry.” Golob did not want to comment on whether the President of the SAB party, Alenka Bratušek or the President of the LMŠ party, Marjan Šarec, will also be part of the government. However, he assured the media that all the chosen experts will be “appropriate and professional.” Golob added that they have plans for two terms. “If we want to seriously address the development changes, we need to look beyond one term,” he announced, adding that by 2030, we will be living in a country “that we will not only be proud of but will actually want to continue living in.” Too bad, with the pace of the outgoing government, this could have happened much more certainly, and, above all, much faster. We also strongly doubt that Slovenians will be satisfied with higher taxes and lower wages.