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Antitrust lighthouse on expensive fuels, companies in the crosshairs

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Antitrust lighthouse on expensive fuels, companies in the crosshairs

«Extraordinary increases», the Agcm in action with the Guardia di Finanza

ROME. The Antitrust went to the major oil companies with the Guardia di Finanza and asked for detailed information on the anomalous wave of fuel prices. The names were not disclosed, but the verification would concern the most important companies active in the national territory and those that operate under their own brand. Their answers are expected quickly, within a few days. A note from the Competition Authority communicates the intervention “following the extraordinary increase in petrol and diesel prices in recent days as well as numerous complaints”. Consumer associations have sent “a flurry”, acknowledges the president of Codacons, Carlo Rienzi, directed to the Antitrust and 104 prosecutors throughout Italy. Now a maxi-class action would be ready for millions of consumers and damaged businesses, if wrongdoing is established. The president of the National Consumers Union, Massimiliano Dona, calls for the investigation to be closed “as soon as possible to stop these unacceptable speculations”.

What the Authority’s action aims to shed light on is, in particular, the hypothesis of a possible violation of the rules on abuse of a dominant position or agreements restricting competition. He explains that it is his responsibility to “monitor the exceptional price increases that sometimes occur during crisis phases”. The intervention model is that of action, in the first phase of the pandemic, following the price increases of some basic necessities. In that case, the practice ended with the filing. In parallel, various proxies are moving, from Rome to Cagliari or Prato. They have opened files and are trying to acquire elements to possibly identify a criminal profile behind the sudden increase in prices. In the meantime, sanctions have also arrived on individual cases. For example, in the Modena area, six fuel stations were fined by the police for a total of 6 thousand euros because they charged customers with a higher fuel price than that declared to the Ministry of Economic Development, violating the legislation on transparency. Thus the rush of energy prices sees those who try to take advantage of it at the small provincial pump of global finance.

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In Italy, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, denounced last week a “colossal scam at the expense of businesses and citizens” speaking of speculations on the price of crude oil and gas, which are increasing exponentially despite the fact that there are no problems of shortage of ‘offering. It is not just an Italian problem. Overseas, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, has intervened in recent days, admonishing oil companies via Twitter to “not make their profits pay at the expense of American workers”.

«Oil prices are falling, they should go down – wrote Biden – even gas prices. The last time oil was $ 96 a barrel, gas was $ 3.62 a gallon. Now it is at 4.31 ». (HANDLE).

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