SDA first claimed no price hikes, now demands halt to oil price surge!

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) has admitted that fuel prices in BiH have increased! The party's president Bakir Izetbegović, Prime Minister Denis Zvizdić, and state MP Šefik Džaferović previously advocated the position that amendments to the Excise Law would not lead to an increase in fuel prices in the country.

Although concrete measures were offered during the parliamentary process to prevent price increases, SDA MPs and their coalition partners at the state level rejected such proposals.

SDA issued a statement today saying that "the increase in excise duties by 15 feninga and the rise in oil prices on the world market cannot justify the increase in fuel prices at gas stations in BiH by almost half a mark in a short period," and therefore we consider citizens' dissatisfaction to be justified.
 
- Following market trends, it is reasonable to suspect illegal cartel operations by oil distributors, i.e., price fixing depending on the gas station's location. It is also indicative that every increase in oil prices on the world market is used to disproportionately increase prices at gas stations, while in situations when the price on the world market falls, price reductions are systematically delayed.
 
SDA demands that the Council of Ministers of BiH and the entity governments instruct the competent inspection bodies to verify the formation of prices of oil and petroleum products before and after the amendments to the Excise Law in BiH and the rise in prices on the world market, as there are serious suspicions of abuses aimed at increasing prices beyond what is necessary – the SDA announced.

Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Denis Zvizdić, in an interview with Slobodna Bosna in December last year, accused the opposition of misinforming the public about the alleged chain reaction of price increases for groceries in BiH due to fuel excise duties.

- Regarding arbitrary estimates of a possible wave of price increases, they serve the purpose of confusing and scaring citizens by the opposition, in order to preemptively negate the positive effects that will result from the launch of highway and road construction projects throughout BiH – Zvizdić said.

Šefik Džaferović, SDA's candidate for the Presidency member, emphasized during the adoption of the Excise Law that "it has been shown that previous reductions in fuel prices have not contributed to lower prices of general goods, nor will this increase affect prices, but it will enable BiH to apply for loans from international financial institutions for the construction of these highway sections."

Bakir Izetbegović, on the other hand, said that "by 2020, BiH has a chance to become the biggest construction site in the Balkans. At the same time, there will be no significant price increases for consumer goods, but they will be within the projected inflation for 2018."

- We demand that the relevant Federal Minister, Zlatan Vujanović, take measures at his disposal as soon as possible, because we believe that the legal grounds have been met for prescribing measures of direct price control and limiting the retail margin of petroleum product distributors – the SDA announced on Monday.