Yesterday, the parliamentary Economy Commission approved the increase of gas excise with 8 lekë/liter, with votes of the Socialist Party (PS) and the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI). The Democratic Party (PD) voted against the increase.
Originally, Minister of Energy Damian Gjiknuri had proposed an increase of 13 lekë/liter. Initially, the LSI members of the commission opposed this, later to negotiate a lower rate.
PD deputy Edmond Spaho declared after the vote:
I express my disappointment with my colleagues from the LSI that they tolerate this. They began with principles but ended up in competition to raise the praise with this or that amount. I hope they won’t hold the same opinion when it comes to [the waste management law].
The main argument of the government to justify the excise increase was “to discipline a very chaotic process of filling gas canisters, which has caused many accidents.”
The government still hasn’t published actual data that support its argument or the strategy that intends to develop to differentiate between gas used for cars and gas used for other purposes such as cooking or heating.
Moreover, there has been no study as to how much additional income the excise will provide to the state budget, or how informality will actually be combatted.
