By George Pirishis

An explosive mix of rising prices is expected in the next period of time in both fuel and electricity as the frenetic course of energy prices continues due to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and the uncertainty that has been created in the markets.

Although the government has announced last week a reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel which came into effect on Tuesday, market players say these reductions will be sustained for a very short time as the price of oil is rising rapidly.

The press spokesman of the Pancyprian Association of Petroleum Products Distributors, Christodoulos Christodoulou, told the newspaper that since yesterday a decrease in the price of fuel began to be observed, however, he said any reductions observed these days will be absorbed by increases in the near future.

“Essentially in two to three weeks the reduction announced by the government in the excise duty on petrol and diesel is expected to evaporate due to the rise in oil prices,” Christodoulou said. In the same vein were the statements of the president of the Cyprus Consumers Association, Marios Droussiotis, who raised exactly the same issue.

“In three weeks the reduction announced by the government in the excise tax on petrol and oil will be covered,” he indicated. It is worth noting that new shipments of oil are already expected in Cyprus, whose prices are much higher than the previous ones, while in combination with the significant drop in the exchange rate of the euro against the dollar, the supply becomes even more expensive and the cost will be felt by the consumer.

Yesterday the price of Brent was trading at a 14-year historical high (in the morning it topped $127 a barrel and at one point reached $139) as Biden administration said it was discussing with Britain, France and Germany a ban on Russian oil.

However, market experts said that after the imposition of US sanctions on oil imports from Russia then it could be possible that oil could reach $200 a barrel. Russia exports about 7 million barrels a day of crude and oil products. It is noted that the price of oil has risen by 60 per cent from the beginning of the year until today.

The above data will clearly establish major inflationary pressures on both the supply chain and on the cost of final products.