Up to 4,000 gas stations at risk due to fuel price control

by time news

Juan Roig Value

Madrid

Updated:

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Tomorrow the Royal Decree of the Government will come into force that will make citizens pay 20 cents less per liter of fuel, a measure taken in the face of skyrocketing inflation and fuel prices, which easily exceeded two euros in recent weeks.

For gas stations, which will be responsible for applying the measure and advancing that amount, this is a concern, since they will see their business model diminished in the medium term. This is particularly true for low cost, which saw its popularity soar throughout March, since they work with tighter profit margins.

The director of the Moure Group —which includes car wash companies and low cost Autonetoil gas stations—, Manuel Monteroexplains that “the margins are between five and 10 cents per liter and, from a treasury point of view, will go to work in negative and for each liter sold there will be less capital to buy the next».

In his opinion, the main problem they see in the government’s regulations is the lack of transparency regarding the return of these advances. «There is talk of little solidarity from gas stations, but I think solidarity is confused with collaboration. We have become the executing arm of a measure approved by the Government, without the economic instruments to carry it out.

Montero concedes that the legislation contemplates presenting a special model on May, June and July 15, but they have not received clear information on the dates on which they will receive the reimbursement.

If they knew, “we would have provisioned our treasuries to be able to hold out for the necessary time, but the concern is essentially reduced to the fact that we will have to advance money that we do not know when it will return,” he says.

The director states that his company, Autonetoil, will indeed make the discount because its financial position is strong, but “many colleagues in the sector will not be able to stay open”.

In fact, it is this situation that has been echoed since Aevecar, the association of retail fuel sellers. “One day after this measure comes into force, the official form has not yet been provided to be able to request a refund from the Treasury.”

“We deeply regret this situation that could have been avoided by taking these measures with the necessary time,” they say in a statement, “for which it was essential to have a meeting with the service station sector and make them aware of reality.”

This measure, according to his calculations, “endangers the survival of up to 4,000 businesseswhich do not have the liquidity to advance these amounts until June 30 ».

To put it in reference, if an average gas station sells 200,000 liters of fuel per month, advance 20 cents per liter would mean a cost for the station of 40,000 euros. In Spain, 70% of gas stations are SMEs.

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