Oil companies demand 12 million euros in damages from the government for incorrect price calculation

2026-07-17 07:14:00, Aktualitet CNA

Oil companies demand 12 million euros in damages from the government for

As they warned about two months ago, oil companies have sued the government in the Administrative Court, after their request for a review of the oil price calculation methodology during the Transparency Board's period of operation was not taken into account.

Sources from the hydrocarbon market confirmed to Monitor that the lawsuits before the Administrative Court were filed separately by 8 operators and are related to losses that, according to them, were caused by the way the Transparency Board calculates the price of oil.

In total, the operators are seeking around 11.8 million euros in compensation for the damages they claim were caused by the Transparency Board's calculation of prices below cost.

About 1 month after the start of the war in the Middle East, which led to an increase in fuel prices on foreign stock exchanges, from March 26 to June 17, 2026, the government reactivated the Hydrocarbons Transparency Board, which sets prices according to the formula adopted during the 2022 crisis, when oil prices increased after the start of the war in Ukraine.

From the beginning, operators objected to the methodology used, arguing that the price was calculated on the basis of the FOB (Free on Board) indicator, which does not include transport and insurance costs. According to them, the international market already operates on CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) contracts, which include these costs and increase the purchase price by about 45-50 USD per ton.

Another objection relates to the fact that, while the Board used the FOB price to determine the maximum selling price, the customs administration calculated VAT on the basis of the CIF price. According to operators, this has created an additional cost of about 4.7 lek per liter, generating significant losses.

In a letter previously sent to the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance and Prime Minister Edi Rama, obtained by Monitor, the largest importing companies argued that their requests for a review of the methodology for calculating prices and profit margins have not been taken into consideration.

Importers claim that the methodology adopted in 2022 no longer reflects real operating costs, as it does not take into account inflation, increases in wages, social security, rents and other operating expenses during the period 2022–2026.

According to them, the Board's formula also underestimates operating margins. While the Board calculates a margin of 3 lek per liter for importers and 12 lek per liter for retail, operators claim that the real costs are around 4 and 15 lek per liter, respectively.

In total, the companies estimate that the current methodology does not reflect about 8.7 lek per liter in the final price of fuel, including the difference from the margin and the method of calculating VAT. According to them, this has caused large financial losses and has put smaller operators in particular in difficulty. /Monitor