STA, 14 March 2022 - The government will adopt a regulation today to determine the maximum prices of fuel at service stations, Prime Minister Janez Janša told MPs, announcing reintroduction of regulated fuel prices from Tuesday.

Janša made the announcement in response to a question from Janja Sluga, the head of the group of unaffiliated MPs, about the government's moves in the face of energy and food price hikes.

The same pricing mechanism as had been in place until April 2016, when the first round of price liberalisation took place, will be used to calculate the prices. The government will not allow for any speculation on the fuel prices market, Janša said.

The move comes after a group of opposition and unaffiliated deputies filed a bill on regulation of prices of petroleum products last week.

Janša said the government had introduced several measures in the face of rising energy price, noting that electricity bills, which users were getting these days, were significantly lower.

"The government has suspended the paying of network fees and some other levies to significantly lower the expenses for the people and it will stay this way for a while," Janša said, adding that aid had been allocated to the most vulnerable groups.

As for the rising fuel prices, he said that panic had been caused, which had resulted in daily sales going up sixfold. He stressed there was no need for panic and that fuel supplies were sufficient.

Russian oil represents 12% of global supplies, and this can be quickly replaced, he said.

The government had been warning fuel retailers to disperse their sources but they still mostly signed contracts with Russian oil companies "because some traditions die hard and connections work", Janša said.

The government fully liberalised the fuel market in 2020, so fuel retailers have been free in setting the prices for all types of fuel since 1 October 2020.

In the face of rising energy prices and the then-upcoming heating season, the government introduced a temporary regulation of margins for distributors of heating oil in November 2021. Initially it was introduced for three months, and then extended in January.

STA, 8 March 2022 - The government will discuss rising fuel prices on Wednesday with two ministers assuring reporters on Tuesday that the government will step in to secure sufficient supplies from commodity reserves and a sustainable pricing policy.

Slovenia has sufficient reserves not to be hurt by somewhat prolonged disruption to supply of oil derivatives, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said during the government's visit to the north of central Slovenian region.

He spoke as prices at the pump hit all-time highs today as a result of the impact of the war in Ukraine. Long lines formed at service stations yesterday as people rushed to fill up and some pumps run out of fuel.

"In line with the intervention from the commodity reserves, we will decide how to ensure a sustainable pricing policy in the coming month. In any case, the state will make sure that the prices won't explode," he said.

The government will intervene if necessary both in terms of volumes and prices. A session dedicated to this issue will be held on Wednesday and the Economy Ministry is working on various scenarios for the future, Počivalšek said.

The Commodity Reserves Agency told the STA that it held a reserve of petroleum products that significantly exceeded the 90-day average consumption in Slovenia. The exact quantity of commodity reserves, including petroleum products, is confidential.

Prime Minister Janez Janša, joined by Počivalšek and Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec, held a meeting with the country's leading fuel retailers on Monday evening to discuss the stockpiles and supplies of oil derivatives over the next weeks and measures to ensure undisrupted supply even if supplies from Russia are suspended.

Počivalšek said the retailers briefed them on their reserves, supply flows and issues. "We in turn told them how we see a sustainable pricing policy in the future."

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Matej Tonin described an embargo on gas and oil imports from Russia as the most powerful tool available to the West to stop Russian war in Ukraine as it would get to the "very heart" of its financing.

Such a move would be the quickest to stop the war. Thus, Slovenia's position is that the sanctions should be stepped up to the maximum at once "even if it hurts us a little".

Given that Russia provides about 12% of global oil supplies, Tonin is confident that Slovenian oil traders can find new suppliers.

Slovenia could weather the period of delays and disruption to supply with oil reserves. "With reserves, we give oil traders room for manoeuvre to secure other sources," said Tonin.

Speaking of gas, he said there had been assurances from those responsible EU stockpiles were sufficient to get through the winter and spring as efforts were under way to replenish the stocks to the maximum extent.

Production could be stepped up by some European countries such as Norway while the EU is also in talks with the Arab world to increase supplies, he added.

The Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry urged the government today to secure farmers fuel to work the land from commodity reserves in case of disrupted supplies, warning that the fallout from the war was huge already.

STA, 8 March 2022 - Prices at the pump surged on Tuesday with both diesel and regular petrol reaching all-time highs due to high prices of oil on the global markets and the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Regular petrol cost between EUR 1,555 and EUR 1,564 and diesel was between EUR 1,662 and EUR 1,670 depending on provider. Along motorways prices are even higher, by a few cents on average.

Prices have been rising for several weeks but have now surged by up to five cents per litre in a single day and in some cases even more.

In anticipation of the price hike, there were long queues at service stations yesterday evening as people rushed to fill up, leading to fuel shortages at some smaller service stations.

Slovenia fully liberalised fuel prices in October 2020. Before that, only prices along motorways were fully liberalised.

Fuel retailers have said they have sufficient reserves and do not expect supply disruptions in the coming days.

Senior government officials held a meeting with top executives of the three largest fuel retailers in the country - Petrol, OMV and MOL - last night.

The government did not reveal the details of the talks beyond saying the discussion revolved around reserves and supplies in the coming weeks, and supplies in the event fuel shipments from Russia are interrupted.

STA, 7 March 2022 - After media reports that fuel prices will go up significantly tomorrow, queues formed at service stations around the country. Some stations even temporarily ran out of diesel fuel. According to the newspaper Finance, the price of diesel could reach a new record tomorrow, at EUR 1.65 a litre. PM Janez Janša said there was no need to panic.

Oil prices had been going up even before Russia attacked Ukraine but they had been rising even faster since, also because of sanctions imposed on Russia and fears of disruption to the supply chains.

The announcement that the US and European countries may impose a ban on oil imports from Russia pushed them even further up.

In Slovenia, petrol prices have been gradually rising for several weeks and currently stand between EUR 1.45 and EUR 1.50 per litre.

Finance has calculated, using a formula that had been used to calculate prices until autumn 2020, when the market was liberalised, that the price of diesel could jump to around EUR 1.65 per litre tomorrow, a record, so filling a 50-litre tank would cost almost EUR 10 more.

The price of regular is expected to go up to just over EUR 1.55.

Janša wrote on Twitter tonight that Slovenia had enough fuel supplies so there would be no shortages. "Moreover, in case of radical increase of retail prices the government will take addition mitigation measures. There is no need to panic."

The biggest fuel retailer in the country, Petrol, said there had been increased demand at its stations around the country this afternoon, especially for diesel. It said this was the "consequence of an exaggerated response of consumers to alarming media reports of expected fuel price hikes because of the situation on the global markets".

Subsequently, some smaller stations even ran out of diesel fuel, but Petrol said additional supply had been provided and that no disruptions were expected tomorrow either.

Petrol told the STA the prices of energy on global markets had been volatile and unpredictable as it is, and Russia's current military activities in Ukraine created even more insecurity. The prices of fuel on global markets have already gone up and everyone will feel the consequences. "Because of these factors it is impossible to forecast the movement of retail prices," Petrol said.

A similar response came from OMV Slovenija, which said its supply had not been disrupted today and that the Slovenian market had sufficient supplies of fuel.

The government confirmed a EUR 200 million package of aid for households and companies to mitigate energy-price hikes at the end of January, also including lower excise duties on heating oil and petrol. The measure entered into force on 1 February and will be in place until the end of April. The government said the excise duties had been reduced to the lowest possible level.

For petrol it currently stands at EUR 0.35901 per litre and for diesel at EUR 0.330.

STA, 12 October - Petrol, Slovenia's largest energy company, will significantly increase the prices of electricity and natural gas on 1 December. The price of electricity is expected to rise by around 30% and of natural gas by 12%, with Petrol citing higher energy prices on international markets as the reason.

"We have recently witnessed exceptional conditions on the commodity and energy markets, where prices are reaching record high levels day after day," Petrol said when announcing the new price list last week.

According to media calculations, the price of electricity for households will rise by 21% to 35%, depending on the tariff. For small business consumers, prices will be around 30% higher, while the price of gas is expected to rise by 12%.

Prices of energy products to be delivered in 2022 have risen significantly in the last year: electricity by more than 175%, gas by almost 300%, oil by around 65% and emission allowances by more than 125%, Petrol added.

They pointed to last year's relatively long and cold winter, which depleted gas supplies across Europe, as one of the reasons for the situation.

The development of Covid-19 vaccines had reignited economic activity and energy demand, but supply has not been able to keep up, not least because of the poor production of electricity from renewable sources over the summer.

Natural gas supply also remains a major problem, with storage capacities being underused across Europe.

"Despite the turbulent market environment, we remain committed to offering a quality, reliable and affordable supply of electricity and natural gas," Petrol said.

"The new price list will apply for our residential and small business customers as of 1 December," the company added.

According to the newspaper Finance, other suppliers are unofficially expected to follow Petrol in raising energy prices soon.

STA, 11 February 2021 - After seven years of offering charging of electric vehicles for free, energy company Petrol will start charging for the service on Monday. This is an important step for development and expansion of plug-in car charging infrastructure in the region, it said, adding it would like to set up more than 1,300 charging stations in the region by 2025.

Drivers charging their vehicles with up to 22 kilowatt plugs will pay 25 cents for a kilowatt hour, Petrol said in a press release on Thursday.

Users will pay for the service via Petrol's OneCharge system based on the amount of energy used and not the duration of the charging.

Petrol said its goal was constant development, which entailed high investment. "Many of our charging stations are already powered by clean energy from renewable sources, and we are also constantly expanding the network of host charging stations abroad ..." said Tadej Smogavec, who is in charge of development of sustainable mobility at Petrol.

Petrol operates the largest network of charging stations in the country and along the border in Austria. It has charging stations at more than 100 locations, according to its web site.

The company has so far been charging only for the use of quick charge stations.

The first to make the service of charging e-vehicles payable was Elektro Ljubljana in May 2019. It has been charging users based on the output and duration of the charging.

STA, 20 November 2020 - The energy group Petrol saw its revenue drop by 30% year-on-year in the first nine months of the year to EUR 2.29 billion. Its net profit was at EUR 40.5 million, a 49% drop compared to the same period in 2019, the core company said in a press release on Friday following a supervisory board meeting.

The group's adjusted gross profit for the first nine months stood at EUR 301.9 million, a drop of 13% year-on-year.

The drop in performance has been attributed to "a drop in petroleum product sales resulting from movement restrictions introduced by governments to contain the pandemic and from the economic downturn the pandemic had caused".

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 25% year-on-year to EUR 114.4 million. This was, however, still better than Petrol's main competitors in the region, the company said.

About 44% of EBITDA was generated by petroleum product sales, 21% by merchandise sales and related services, 17% by the sale of other energy products such as natural gas, electricity and LPG, 15% by the sale of energy and environmental solutions, and 3% by renewable electricity production.

Petroleum product sales were down 21% to 2.3 million tonnes, liquefied petroleum gas sales totalled 114.3 thousand tonnes, which was 17% less than in the same period of the previous year. Electricity sales stood at 15.7 TWh and natural gas sales at 19.9 TWh.

The group generated EUR 345.2 million in merchandise sales, a 3% decrease compared to the same period of the previous year.

At the end of September, the group operated 510 service stations, of which 318 in Slovenia, 110 in Croatia, 42 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 15 in Serbia, 15 in Montenegro and 10 in Kosovo.

The group has drawn up different scenarios for operations this year due to the uncertain conditions. The projection is that amount of petroleum products sold will reach between 83% and 86% of last year's figure.

Gross operating profit could stand between 73% and 79% of last year's of between 77% and 84% when not factoring in one off events, with EUR 11 million worth of these having been excluded from last year's operating profit.

The Petrol group spent EUR 46.4 million on net investments in property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and long-term investments, which compares to EUR 84.3 million in the first nine months of 2019.

Out of the above amount, 33% was allocated for sales in Slovenia, 23% for energy and environmental solutions, 18% for sales in SE Europe, 10% for the upgrading of information and other infrastructure, 9% for renewable electricity production, and 7% for mobility.

The group had a 5,230-strong workforce at the end of September, 35% of which at subsidiaries abroad. The number of employees decreased by 45 compared to the end of 2019.

STA, 26 October 2020 - A special audit has found irregularities in eight of a total of 30 audited deals energy company Petrol concluded under the former Tomaž Berločnik-led management in 2015-2019. The auditor believes that some irregularities show the management could be liable for damages while elements of criminal liability have also been detected.

BDO Revizor audited 30 deals concluded between 1 January 2015 and 24 October 2019, when the three-member Berločnik management resigned "by mutual agreement".

Audited were the transactions in excess of a million euro concerning the acquisition and disposal of financial investments, other types of investments, and sponsorship contracts.

The report on the audit, which Petrol published on the website of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange on Friday, points to irregularities in the transactions concerning the companies Mbills, Zagorski Metalac, Petrol Beograd, Vjetroelektrarne Glunča, Petrol Hidroenergija, Atet, BH Petrol Oil Company, and Abciti.

These transactions involved acquisitions of ownership stakes in these companies, capital injections or registration of a new company.

They involved violations of internal provisions about compulsory supervisor approval and the absence of due care while the management also underestimated economic feasibility of certain deals.

BDO Revizor maintains that to prove the former management board has caused damage to the company, Petrol will have to seek opinion by various economics experts.

The auditor also detected elements which indicate that the former management possibly committed crimes.

"Given potential court proceedings, the circumstances of this segment of the audit have not been disclosed," the release said.

A decision on the audit was taken in December 2019 as the shareholders met to confront the former management with allegations of mismanagement in drafting plans for 2020-2022. Berločnik, however, claimed the management had to resign due to different views on Petrol's future strategy.

STA, 24 September 2020 - Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning Andrej Vizjak is being investigated by the securities market regulator for buying over 400 shares of fuel company Petrol in the spring. The news comes a day after the government decided to fully liberalise fuel prices as of October, which could significantly impact Petrol's business.

 The Securities Market Agency has introduced oversight because of suspicion of abuse of internal information, or insider trading, but would not reveal any details.

Vizjak has bought 415 Petrol shares since March, the bulk at the end of May, for a total of EUR 120,000, the Finance paper reported in early September.

To finance the purchase, prior to which he already had over 80 Petrol shares, Vizjak took out a loan, the business newspaper also reported.

"Given that their stock market price plummeted during the epidemic, I bought the Petrol shares because I saw an opportunity for a good investment," he explained earlier this month.

A day after the government's decision to liberalise fuel prices, Petrol was the busiest share on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange today, up 6.31% to close at 320 euro.

It accounted for nearly 639,000 euro in deals, which is almost half of the daily turnover.

Finance reported that Vizjak's move was today reported to the corruption watchdog - the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.

Vizjak meanwhile told the newspaper Večer today that he had purchased the first Petrol shares already 25 years ago, because he considered Petrol a promising company.

He reiterated the Petrol price on the stock market in spring was relatively low and at the time "nobody was taking about fuel market liberalisation yet".

The minister also said he had not been involved in the government's liberalisation of the fuel market.

"The documents were prepared by the Economy Ministry, and the Finance Ministry also took part. I was not involved. I find it unacceptable to be dragged into this story," he said indicating at a media fabrication.

Vizjak, who was also the subject of criticism for buying Telekom Slovenije shares as labour minister in 2012 when the then Janez Janša government was deciding on a potential sale of the telco and on dividend payouts, further explained for the press today during a working visit to Hrastnik that he had earned nothing through the acquisition.

"I haven't sold the shares, they are a long-term investment. When I sell them, we can start talking about whether I earned something," he said.

Vizjak, who also argued that expecting deregulation would lead to higher prices was a speculation, added that he was regularly buying promising shares of Slovenian companies and was looking forward to the Securities Market Agency procedure. He is ready to accept responsibility if any irregularities are established.

STA, 24 September 2020 - Fuel prices in Slovenia will be fully deregulated. "Administered prices are no longer necessary," the government said after a session late on Wednesday. It has not been announced when the decision takes effect, but the current decree on administered prices expires at the end of September.

Prices of fuel sold along motorways and expressways have been deregulated since 2016, as has the price of heating oil and premium petrol regardless of point of sale.

Regular petrol and diesel sold at all other service stations have been subject to price caps determined every two weeks.

Fuel providers, foremost among them Slovenia's largest energy company Petrol, have long complained that the state-imposed margins are too thin.

Successive governments have argued that price caps are necessary due to insufficient competition, as the market is controlled by three major players: Petrol, Austria's OMV and Hungary's MOL.

The government now says that "given suitable measures and activities to increase competitiveness on the oil derivatives market, new discount providers may enter the market, in particular in the parking lots of shopping centres."

Under that assumption, margins and hence prices would not rise. "Within five years after deregulation... they would reach the level of margins comparable to margins in other EU member states.

Petrol and OMV have welcomed the decision as a positive development on the market that will benefit all stakeholders, with both companies saying consumer would get more choice.

OMV said this would create "normal market conditions" and noted that as a transit country, Slovenia stood to benefit from the prospect of "more agile reaction to fuel prices in neighbouring countries".

Petrol said the decision constituted a "transition to free price movements" of the kind that all other competitive markets in the EU and most markets in the region already have.

It noted that in the four years since the partial liberalisation, there had been no price anomalies.

Likely capitalising on the news, Petrol shares surged by over 5% in early trading on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange today.