Fuel prices in Cyprus are now well above where they stood before the government cut excise duty by 8.33 cents a litre, with unleaded petrol averaging 1.74 euros a litre countrywide on Tuesday, 43 cents more than in February. Figures kept by the Consumer Protection Service show that in some cases prices have not only absorbed the state subsidy but risen by more than the amount of the cut.
The service, part of the Energy Ministry, says its market checks show the increases are justified. The Cyprus Consumers’ Association disagrees: its president, Marios Drousiotis, said 19 petrol stations did not pass on the tax cut and 97 lowered their prices by less than 8.33 cents a litre.
Petrol, diesel and heating oil
Unleaded 95-octane petrol cost 1.31 euros a litre in February, when the measure was not in force. The price rose by 28 cents between February and August and by 36 cents by September, with a bigger increase in the first days of October. The figures include the tax cut.
Diesel cost 1.40 euros a litre in February and more than 2.02 euros on Tuesday, an increase the figures put at 60 cents in eight months. The rise stood at 39 cents between February and August and at about 54 cents by September.
Heating oil, which cost 0.94 euros a litre in February without the subsidy, reached 1.66 euros on Tuesday, an increase of 72 cents. The rise stood at 49 cents in August and 61 cents in September.
State share of the price
Forty per cent of the final price of fuel goes to the state in taxes and other charges. Of the 1.74 euros a litre for unleaded petrol, 1.09 euros is the price of the product, 27 cents is VAT, 36 cents is excise duty and one cent goes to the Cyprus Organisation for the Storage and Management of Oil Stocks (KODAP).
For diesel at 2.02 euros a litre, the product accounts for 1.36 euros, VAT for 32 cents, excise duty for 33 cents and KODAP for one cent.
Revenue
A Finance Ministry representative told parliament’s Energy Committee on Tuesday that the state had lost 16.5 million euros in revenue up to August because of the excise duty cut. Deputy Tax Commissioner Christos Karoulas said the Tax Department’s VAT revenue had not increased, standing at 32 million euros in 2024 and 2025 and at 24 million euros so far this year.
Reactions
Konstantinos Karagiorgis, director of the Consumer Protection Service, told the committee that current fuel price levels in Cyprus were acceptable and that the rise in prices had been lower than the EU average. He said Cyprus held fourth and fifth place for the lowest prices in the EU for petrol and heating oil.
Commenting on the government’s relief measures, Fiscal Council chairman Andreas Charalambous said targeted spending was better than tax relief, which he said mainly benefits high earners.
Karagiorgis said the service monitors all prices daily, automatically receiving data on Platts prices, the European Central Bank exchange rate, companies’ import figures and retail prices from every petrol station.
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