Prime Minister Edi Rama stated that a public company will enter the country’s oil market to ensure that citizens do not pay more than they should. Rama announced this during the Socialist Party Assembly in Unit No. 4 in the capital.
Rama added that fuel prices will reflect real market levels based on the stock exchange, while noting that the new law on reserves is currently under consultation.
“We will enter the oil market with a public company to guarantee that citizens are not forced to pay more than they should. The new law on reserves is under consultation. We previously had a system where fuel was marked to identify legally imported oil. We tried to fix it. We have created a public company and within 1–2 months we will introduce another marker that cannot be manipulated. This will formalize the oil market. We want the public company to reach a point where it becomes a supplier in the market and sets the rules of the game by establishing a real price based on the stock exchange,” he emphasized.
Rama added that currently a portion of fuel in Albania remains outside state oversight and that efforts are underway, with the help of a company from the United Arab Emirates, to bring the situation under control.
“We have a problem with fuel. But fuel is a problem everywhere due to the war. We had a system where fuel was marked with a chemical component to distinguish legally imported fuel from smuggled fuel. It was an inherited concession, and we tried to fix it, but it was a dye that could easily be diluted. Now, together with the public company we have created, we have established another joint public company with a state-owned company from the United Arab Emirates, and we will introduce a new, non-manipulable marker. This will greatly help fully formalize the oil market.
There is a quantity of fuel that is outside the state’s radar. Another issue is so-called transit fuel, which enters Albania destined for neighboring countries but then remains illegally in Albania. For this as well, we have developed a solution with the same partner company, where the Albanian state holds the majority of shares, to track all transit fuel, which until now has been monitored manually. These measures will have a positive impact,” Rama said.
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