No pressure on Slovnaft to lower fuel prices

The Bratislava based refinery, Slovnaft has a dominant position on the Slovak fuel market. But this dominant market position is not specific to Slovakia - other national markets also have domestic producers with dominant positions. Fuel prices have increased substantially and the consumers are looking for a culprit' and have found it in the major player on the market. All those who are talking of 'record-breaking' fuel prices seem to have forgotten about inflation rates in recent years. But the situation on the Slovak market is not entirely standard. Slovak customers are right in objecting to the fact that fuel prices are often higher in Slovakia (pre-tax) than in neighbouring countries. But there is nothing to indicate this situation is likely to change. The consumption of petrol and diesel in Slovakia is growing. Many well-established companies have left the Slovak market and 50 competition is decreasing. And those that have stayed buy their fuel from Slovnaft and do not exercise any pressure on retail margins. Small independent distributors are not in a position to offer lower prices and they themselves are forced to decrease their margins. Slovnaft, controlled by the Hungarian company MOL, dictates the rules not only because its refineries produce 76% of all fuel sold on the Slovak market but also due to the fact that the company controls 39% of the retail network. It does not make a difference whether drivers stop at non--brand petrol stations, or use the petrol stations of international companies, nearly all companies operating in Slovakia buy their fuel from the Bratislava refinery with the exception of high octane petrol and winter diesel. Despite refinery over-capacity in Central Europe and the high number of producers operating within a small area, competition is not noticeable on the Slovak market. In theory, competition could be provided by the Polish refineries, the Czech refinery which imports under the JET brand, the Austrian owned OMV, the Ukrainian refinery in Kremcuk and the modern refinery in Mozir, Belarus. The main problem for the Slovak market is its small size. And this is the reason why big companies have not built logistic infrastructure, but rather rely on direct deliveries from Slovnaft. All refineries try to extract the most benefit from their domestic market. They are then able to offer competitive prices abroad, even after taking logistic costs into account.Slovakia is too small even for Slovnaft and it exports 70% of its production. (authors)