Poland Can't Make Fuel Cheaper Without It Being Taken to More Expensive Countries - Petrol Retailer

WARSAW (Sputnik) - Polish authorities cannot reduce fuel prices without provoking people to take it abroad, where the prices are higher, CEO of Poland's largest oil refiner and petrol retailer Orlen Daniel Obajtek said on Monday.

In May, Poland's fuel industry recorded the largest increase in prices: fuel for private consumers increased by 35.4% year-on-year and by 5% compared to April. Currently, the average price per liter of Pb95 gasoline in Poland is about 8 zloty (about $1.8).

"We talk a lot about price regulation; we talk a lot about fuel prices. I agree fuel prices are actually very high. I am sorry and I am aware of it, but what can we do? We can only act so that these prices are among the lowest in Europe," Obajtek told the Polish Senate.

The Orlen CEO noted that it is important to control the prices and the flow of goods.

"If we cut wholesale fuel prices, some of that fuel would automatically go abroad. It would simply go abroad, since there would be a big difference and there is free movement of goods in Europe," Obajtek said.

Obajtek added that there are certain mechanisms that cannot be violated for the benefit of the market.

The EU member countries have sanctioned Russia after it launched its special military operation in Ukraine in February. The EU has since imposed six packages of sanctions hitting Russia's banking, finances and media, government officials, and lawmakers, as well as oil, though only oil supplied by sea, not pipelines. Several European leaders have called on Brussels to include a ban on Russian gas in the future seventh package. Many European countries and the United States have since been facing skyrocketing fuel prices and soaring inflation.