STA, 15 October 2021 - The price of diesel at petrol stations along Slovenian motorways has reached a record high of around EUR 1.49 per litre as soaring global oil derivatives prices have spilled over into the Slovenian market.
The previous record price of diesel was in October 2018, when drivers had to pay EUR 1.464 per litre, show Economy Ministry price data.
Currently, the average price at petrol stations on the Slovenian motorway network is EUR 1.49.
Elsewhere in the country, diesel costs from EUR 1.402 to EUR 1.472 per litre, depending on the location and the provider, according to the fuel prices website goriva.si.
This means that the price of diesel at petrol stations outside of the motorway and expressway network increased by more than 44% since the liberalisation in October 2020, when both diesel and regular petrol cost around a euro per litre.
The price of regular petrol has increased by 33% on average since the full liberalisation.
The two largest retailers, Petrol and OMV, currently sell it at EUR 1.333 and EUR 1.334 per litre, respectively, outside the motorway network.
Regular petrol is even more expensive along motorways, with the current price set by the two providers at around EUR 1.389 per litre, which is nevertheless still below the of EUR 1.576 recorded in September 2012.
The Economy Ministry says it is closely following the situation in the market, noting that the prices in Slovenia are not much different than in other EU member states and are in line with forecasts made before the market was fully liberalised.
"The higher prices of fuel are not a consequence of price liberalisation, but of high prices of crude oil in global markets," the ministry told the STA on Friday.
Asked in what case the state would decide again to intervene in the market and how, the ministry said that the control mechanisms for detecting possible disputable practices were contained in the prevention of restriction of competition act.
It noted that the Competition Protection Agency was in charge of supervising the market, adding that it would intervene if it detected certain irregularities that would demand action according to the law.
