Fuel-tracking systems are not being monitored

The ambitious fuel inflow-outflow monitoring system for combating illegal trade is going to waste, despite the major effort to have it installed.

Data presented by the Hellenic Petroleum Marketing Companies Association (SEEPE) showed that 98 percent of gas stations have installed the monitoring systems and 94 percent of them send their data to the Finance Ministry. However, the figures are not checked or utilized in any way by the General Secretariat of Information Systems, allowing violators to get away with illegal trade, SEEPE head Yiannis Aligizakis said yesterday.

The problem is not just in the loss of revenues, estimated at between 150 and 300 million euros per annum, but also in the unfair advantage that dodgy businessmen have over the lawful section of the market, just as companies in the sector are fighting for their survival.

This unfair competition is expected to make itself felt with the start of the heating oil delivery season, beginning on October 15, as fuel traders that transfer huge quantities of the fuel to gasoline stations for retail have not had the inflow-outflow systems installed yet. Furthermore, fuel trucks have not yet had their GPS systems installed either.