Author: Denis Tahiri
Albanians spend almost a quarter of their income just to buy fuel. This finding comes from the calculations of foreign researchers who rank our country first for the cost and expenses for fuel, always compared to salaries. And specifically according to Dataisbeutifule, 26.59% of net income is necessary for an Albanian to fill a 60-liter tank with fuel. The figure published by Dataisbeutifule is based on data from the numbeo.com website , which places Albania in first place for the cost of fuel based on the income of citizens worldwide. In second place is Pakistan with 24.80%, followed by the Philippines and Ghana, where the cost of citizens for 60 liters of fuel was 24.73% and 20.69% of their net income, respectively. (From reported data)
The reason why the price of fuel is so high in Albania, ranking the country in the list of countries with the most expensive price in the world, is due to a very large tax burden. Currently, the government takes about 217% of the final price in the form of taxes on a liter of diesel sold in our country, which costs 60 ALL. Oil in Albania is subject to excise duty of 38.22 lek per liter, VAT which is 20% of the final price of oil, 27 lek for circulation tax and 3 lek per liter for carbon tax. While two other taxes, that of marking 0.6 ALL per liter and that of scanning 1.4 ALL per liter, go to the concessionaire. But the oil price also includes 26 other local government taxes, which burden even more the burden of taxes imposed on hydrocarbons.
In the region, Albania is a unique case in the way fuel is taxed. Two taxes that differentiate our country from the rest of the region are the circulation tax and the carbon tax, but recently also the tax on fuel, which continues to remain intact, unlike neighboring countries.
Lives changed by price gouging
The car of 25-year-old B.Sh has been parked under his house for more than two weeks. But it is not the only car that has not changed its parking spot for more than 10 days.
" I can't drive anymore. It was difficult before, but since I work at "Astir" and live in "Student City", I needed it because I finish work late," says the 25-year-old, who has turned his old bicycle into his favorite means of transportation, where after an 8-hour shift, he has to pedal for more than 20 minutes to his apartment.
The downward trend in car use is clearly visible in the capital. Prolonged hours of standing in traffic have turned into minutes, while the opposite has happened with the number of citizens rushing through the city streets. The decrease in the number of vehicles circulating in the capital has also been noticed by road experts. Asked about this issue, road safety expert Gëzim Hoxha says that there is a noticeable decrease, which is also related to the increase in the price of fuel.
Albania is a unique case
In the region, Albania is a unique case in the way fuel is taxed. Two taxes that differentiate our country from the rest of the region are the circulation tax and the carbon tax, but also the VAT charged on fuel.
North Macedonia has an excise tax of 28 ALL per liter, while VAT is only 18%. Meanwhile, Montenegro has an excise tax of ALL 53.6/liter, while VAT is at 21%. On the other hand, Kosovo has an excise tax on hydrocarbons of 43 ALL/liter and a VAT of 18%. While Serbia, for excise duty, receives 59 ALL per liter and taxes only 20%. And when the price of oil is high before the crisis due to a large tax burden, in times of crisis, its impact on the economy of every citizen becomes even more visible.
" The increase in the price of oil in these parameters brings a chain increase in all prices. Because if products are not produced using energy from oil, they are transported and distributed to citizens through oil. This automatically leads to an increase," says Adriatik Lapaj, who has been a strong voice in the protests against the increase in the price of oil and in favor of government intervention to reduce the price.
" France is a typical case, Macedonia has intervened, Kosovo has intervened, Greece has made a package. States do this work," he says, adding that Albania has the greatest opportunities to make a similar intervention. " We are the only country in Europe and perhaps one of the few in the world that taxes fuel at 130 lekë today. So the state receives more today than we pay for fuel. We are talking about millions of liters per day," says Lapaj.
And while the country was involved in every district by protests demanding government intervention to reduce the price of oil, Prime Minister Edi Rama would declare that: " Oil taxes will not be removed, and there is no protest with iPhone lights and blocking roads with X5 tires that can undo this. Oil taxes will not be removed because the price of energy will not increase. This is the essence of the morality and reason for this choice". On the other hand, the Skopje government has made an immediate intervention to avoid the increase in prices not only of fuel but also of food in the basket, through a package called the "Package of measures to protect citizens and companies from the energy crisis". These measures start from subsidizing the needy and businesses, the intervention of some taxes on food goods, and up to reducing taxes on fuel. It is precisely in this sector that the government of the neighboring country decided to reduce the VAT rate from 18% to 10% for diesel, unleaded gasoline and liquefied gas. According to the argument of the North Macedonian government, this measure would protect the purchasing power of citizens. Meanwhile, in neighboring Kosovo, the retail price of fuel continues to be cheaper than in the entire region.
Can the government intervene?
Intervention in the taxes imposed on oil by the government is something that the prime minister has expressed against, experts say that it is something possible.
" I am not concerned, not that much, but 300 times, the taxes on fuel as long as I am there are not being removed, not being reduced, not being moved. I am alarmed by something else, the direct violation of our dignity as a nation, as a people, as a state, as a country, as a society, as Albanians by this reaction", said the head of government at a time when protests for the reduction of oil prices were continuing throughout the country.
But economic experts say that a government intervention to reduce the price of oil is possible. The economic expert, Klodian Muço, says that currently the government is benefiting from the taxes imposed on oil, even though we are in a time of crisis, and a relief for the final price at which citizens buy it could also be the relief of VAT.
" VAT is calculated based on the final price, and at the moment the final price of fuel has gone from 170 lek to 180 lek on average, which was in 2021 when the forecasts for the next budget were made and went to 230, 203, so over 200 lek, it means that the government is increasing revenues thanks to the price increase, it is what is called inflation tax. The government could say that VAT will not be calculated with the final price that is currently there but with the price that has been predicted in 2021. At this moment when oil went to 250-260, you could deduct 12 lek. So the government can do this ," he says, adding that oil directly and indirectly affects the entire economy, where a change in its price reflects on the entire economy.
" Currently, the price of oil today on the stock exchange is much lower than at the beginning of the war or when the price increase began in our country, now how is it possible that the government decides that oil today should be 203 lek? Where does it use logic?", he concludes.
Arrests and proceedings for traffic jams
In Tirana, Durrës, Dibër, Korçë and many other cities, the protest started on social networks spread rapidly, gathering many citizens in almost the entire country. On the other hand, there were also arrests and proceedings of citizens. An official source at the State Police told "Sinjalizo" that there are about 50 arrested and 100 prosecuted throughout the country for "Obstructing the circulation of vehicles" and opposing the police forces.
Ben Kola is one of those arrested, who after three days in the cell, the court gave him the security measure of "obligation to appear".
" I was arrested after the protest. I was on the sidewalk talking to my friends and he came up to me from behind and hugged me. After escorting me to the police station, there was no violence against me, but what I noticed was the rape of a 22-year-old boy from Hasi who, in addition to being arrested on Wednesday and released after two hours, was arrested again on Thursday by some civilians and beaten in a car. When his family member went and said he would file a complaint, they changed the charges, accusing him of resisting the police," says Kola, who adds that during the three days he spent in the cell with the young man, the latter told him that he no longer dared to protest.
On the other hand, the same official source from the State Police told "Sinjalizo" that: " Only those who blocked the road and did not obey the police order asking them to clear the road were detained. The criminal offenses are blocking the roads and resisting the police forces," he concluded. But in the decisions of the Tirana court that "Sinjalizo" has, the only criminal offense mentioned is that of "Obstructing the circulation of means of transport", while the charge of "resisting the police forces" is not written in any case.
