- Τα περιθώρια κέρδους στην αγορά καυσίμων της Ελλάδας είναι τα υψηλότερα στην Ευρώπη
- Η έκθεση του ΔΝΤ “καρφώνει” Βαρδινογιάννη και Λάτση
- 1 δισ. δολάρια το χρόνο πληρώνουν παραπάνω οι Έλληνες πολίτες!
Με δημοσίευμά της, η Wall Street Journal, “καρφώνει” τους δύο Έλληνες μεγιστάνες. Για την ακρίβεια, η εφημερίδα δημοσιεύει την έκθεση του ΔΝΤ, σύμφωνα με την οποία τα διυλιστήρια των Βαρδινογιάννη και Λάτση αντίστοιχα, που χρησιμοποιούν – όπως τονίζει η Wall Street Journal – τη δύναμή τους για να ελέγξουν αποτελεσματικά την αγορά. Διαβάστε στο planet-greece ΟΛΟ το δημοσίευμα….
Το planet-greece μεταφράζει και δημοσιεύει αυτούσιο ολόκληρο το κείμενο, διατηρώντας, πάντως, τις επιφυλάξεις μας για το αν κρύβονται άλλα συμφέροντα πίσω από το συγκεκριμένο δημοσίευμα. Όλο το ακριβές κείμενο έχει ως εξής:
ΔΝΤ: Η έλλειψη ανταγωνισμού “σκοτώνει” την Ελληνική αγορά καυσίμων του ALKMAN GRANITSAS, στην Wall Street JournalΗ έλλειψη ανταγωνισμού κοστίζει στους Έλληνες καταναλωτές πάνω από 1 δις δολάρια το χρόνο, σύμφωνα με σχετική απόρρητη έκθεση του Διεθνούς Νομισματικού Ταμείου, ως ένδειξη των βαθιών διαρθρωτικών προβλημάτων, που επικαλούνται οι διεθνείς οικονομολόγοι για να εξηγήσουν τους λόγους για τους οποίους η Ελλάδα δεν μπορεί να αξιοποιήσει τις ευκαιρίες να σταθεί στα πόδια της.
Παρά την 5ετή ύφεση, την ραγδαία αύξηση της οικονομίας και τις επανειλημμένες προσπάθειες για το άνοιγμα των αυστηρών ρυθμίσεων (σ.σ. εννοεί των κλειστών επαγγελμάτων), οι τιμές στην Ελλάδα παραμένουν σε πολύ υψηλά επίπεδα – ένα σημαντικό εμπόδιο για την αποκατάσταση της χαμένης ανταγωνιστικότητας και της ανάπτυξης της. Ένας από τους λόγους, σύμφωνα με το ΔΝΤ και άλλοι αναλυτές, είναι ένας συνδυασμός των κυρίαρχων εταιρειών και η υπερβολική ρύθμιση που καταπνίγει τους ανταγωνιστές. Οι προσπάθειες για την απελευθέρωση σε δεκάδες τομείς, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των νομικών υπηρεσιών και τα κρουαζιερόπλοια, έχουν σημειώσει μόνο μέτρια πρόοδο.
Οι Αξιωματούχοι του ΔΝΤ, αποτελούν ένα μέρος της Τρόικας των διεθνών επιθεωρητών που έχουν αναλάβει τον έλεγχο και διάσωση της χώρας, μέσω του τελευταίου δανείου των 173 δισ. ευρώ. Η τελευταία εσωτερική έκθεση που εκπονήθηκε από το ΔΝΤ καταγράφει το μεγάλο πρόβλημα της γραφειοκρατίας στην Ελλάδα αλλά και τα λάθη που στην επιβολή του νόμου, τα οποία επιτρέπουν μεγάλους παίκτες να κυριαρχούν στις αγορές πετρελαίου, ντίζελ και θέρμανσης, βλάπτοντας την οικονομία .
Η νέα συντηρητική κυβέρνηση συνασπισμού που εκλέχθηκε τον Ιούνιο, ισχυρίζεται ότι θέλει να διορθώσει κι ότι κινείται για την καταπολέμηση των αντιανταγωνιστικών πρακτικών στην αγορά.
Ερωτηθείς από την εφημερίδα ο κυβερνητικός εκπρόσωπος Σίμος Κεδίκογλου τόνισε ότι “Η καλύτερη λειτουργία της αγοράς καυσίμων είναι κάτι που θέλουμε να κάνουμε και θα εξετάσουμε κάθε πρόταση σχετικά με το πώς μπορούμε να το καταφέρουμε αυτό» και πρόσθεσε “Ηδη έχουμε εντατικοποιήσει τους ελέγχους μας, γιατί γνωρίζουμε καλά ότι λόγω των υψηλών φόρων, η Ελλάδα έχει τους υψηλότερους φόρους καυσίμων στην Ευρώπη. Οι Έλληνες, λόγω της κρίσης, πληρώνουν πολύ υψηλές τιμές για τη βενζίνη.” Ο. κ. Κεδίκογλου πάντως αρνήθηκε να σχολιάσει τις λεπτομέρειες της έκθεσης λέγοντας ότι το περιεχόμενό του δεν έχει γνωστοποιηθεί στην κυβέρνηση.
Η έκθεση, σύμφωνα με την Wall Street Journal, παρουσιάζει μια σειρά από εμπόδια για την εγκατάσταση ανεξάρτητων παραγωγών φυσικού αερίου από την αγορά καυσίμων του εξωτερικού. Όλοι οι εισαγωγείς πρέπει να διαθέτουν εγκαταστάσεις και τα καύσιμα θα πρέπει να μεταφέρονται μόνο σε μεγάλα ρυμολκούμενα δεξαμενόπλοια. “Αυτό καθιστά αδύνατη για τους ανεξάρτητους σταθμούς φυσικού αερίου τη μεταφορά καυσίμων στην Ελλάδα», αναφέρει η έκθεση.
Το ΔΝΤ αρνήθηκε να σχολιάσει σχετικά με το σχέδιο, αλλά επιβεβαίωσε την αυθεντικότητά του.
Τέλος όπως αναφέρεται στην έκθεση «Η ελληνική αγορά είναι εξαιρετικά συγκεντρωμένη και ελέγχεται ουσιαστικά από δύο μεγάλα εγχώρια διυλιστήρια (ΕΛΠΕ και Motor Oil), προσθέτοντας ότι οι χαμηλότερες τιμές των καυσίμων θα μπορούσε να βοηθήσουν στην μείωση του πληθωρισμού στη χώρα περισσότερο από 1%. Επίσης όπως επισημαίνεται τα περιθώρια κέρδους για τα προϊόντα των καυσίμων στην Ελλάδα είναι από τα υψηλότερα στην Ευρώπη, στην περίπτωση δε του πετρελαίου θέρμανσης, περισσότερο από το διπλάσιο από το μέσο όρο της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης.
Tέλος η έκθεση αναφέρει ότι «οι καταναλωτές και οι παραγωγοί, οι φορολογούμενοι, αλλά και τα βενζινάδικα” θα ωφεληθούν από την ελευθέρωση. Αλλά προειδοποιεί ότι «οι ιδιοκτήτες και οι εργαζόμενοι των δύο διυλιστηρίων, οι χονδρέμποροι καθώς και οι τελωνειακοί υπάλληλοι θα αντισταθούν σθενάρα σε μια πιθανή απελευθέρωση στον τομέα των καυσίμων.
Δείτε και το αυτούσιο κείμενο, όπως το δημοσίευσε η Wall Street Journal:
ATHENS—Lack of competition in Greece's oil-refining industry is costing consumers here more than $1 billion a year, according to a draft internal report by the International Monetary Fund, in an indication of the deep structural problems that many economists believe are hobbling Greece's chances of recovering its footing.
Despite five years of recession, soaring unemployment and repeated efforts to open up its highly regulated economy, prices in Greece remain stubbornly high—a major obstacle to restoring its lost competitiveness and growth. One reason, according to the IMF and other analysts, is a combination of dominant companies and excessive regulation that stifles competitors. Efforts to liberalize dozens of sectors, including legal services and cruise shipping, have made only modest headway.
IMF officials are part of a troika of international inspectors monitoring Athens's overhauls as part of the country's latest €173 billion ($225 billion) bailout deal. The internal report, prepared by the IMF's on-the-ground team in Athens, details a thicket of bureaucratic red tape and lapses in law enforcement that it says allow big players to dominate the markets for gas, diesel and heating oil, damaging the economy.
Greece's new conservative-led coalition government, voted into office in June, says it wants to fix that and is moving to combat anticompetitive practices in the marketplace.
"A better-functioning fuels market is something we desire and we will examine every proposal on how to bring that about," said government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou. "We are already doing that by stepping up our checks because we are well aware that due to high taxes"—Greece has the highest fuel taxes in Europe—"Greeks, on account of the crisis, pay very high prices for gasoline overall."
Mr. Kedikoglou wouldn't comment on the specifics of the report, however, saying its contents hadn't been divulged to the government.
The report, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, also levels criticism at the country's two biggest oil refiners, which it says use their market muscle to exert effective control over the heavily regulated market.
As an example, the report outlined a chain of obstacles it says effectively prevent independent gas stations from buying fuel abroad. All importers must have facilities to hold 60 days of inventory, something beyond the capability of many smaller businesses. And fuel can only be transported in large tractor-trailer tankers, though gas stations aren't permitted to own vehicles that large. "This makes it impossible for independent gas stations to transport fuel into Greece," the report says.
The IMF declined to comment on the draft, but confirmed its authenticity.
Although a draft report, and still subject to revision, many of the allegations it makes aren't new. Greece's de facto restrictions on imports—such as the rules relating to storage facilities and the impediments facing independents—have been the subject of more than two decades of complaints by European Union regulators against Greece.
Greece's own antitrust watchdog, the Hellenic Competition Commission, investigated the fuel market in late 2006 and issued four reports and two decisions ordering the government to open up the market, with little effect. The drafting of the IMF report suggests the Fund has now also taken an interest in Greece's fuel market and may press the government to open up the sector as part of the long-term overhauls Greece must make in order to receive continued aid.
Many economists and business people complain of similar problems in dozens of sectors, but the fuel market has perhaps the biggest impact on the economy.
"Uncompetitive markets cause high costs for Greek consumers," the report says. "Given how important energy is for the overall economy, competitiveness of Greece would be improved by better functioning fuel markets. This market needs reform."
"The Greek market is highly concentrated and basically controlled by the two domestic refiners," the IMF report says, adding that lower fuel prices could help push down Greece's consumer inflation rate by more than 1%. It says profit margins for fuel products in Greece are among the highest in Europe, and in the case of home heating oil, more than twice the European Union average.
The report also alleges that the two big refiners, controlled by two of the country's best known and richest tycoons, engage in manipulative and anticompetitive practices. Referring to the Hellenic Competition Commission investigation in 2006 and two European Court of Justice rulings, it contends that Motor Oil Hellas Corinth Refineries SA and Hellenic Petroleum SA—which together own all of the country's refining capacity, control 70% of its wholesale market and 60% of all gas stations—have hit retailers with surcharges, failed to disclose pricing information and manipulated international benchmark indexes.
Motor Oil Hellas, controlled by Greek oil magnate Vardis Vardinoyannis, declined to comment on the report.
Officials at Hellenic Petroleum, which is partly owned by the Greek government, said the problems in the market lie elsewhere.
"Hellenic Petroleum believes that the greatest problem of the Greek fuels market is fuel smuggling, adulteration and cheating, which lead to distortions in the market that burden the end consumers as well as the legitimate companies," said a spokesman for the company. "Hellenic Petroleum has submitted to the authorities a written 10-point proposal with their positions on how to eliminate those distortions."
Hellenic Petroleum, the larger of the two firms, is controlled by shipping and oil tycoon Spiros Latsis, who owns 41.9%. The Greek government owns a 35.5% stake.
Messrs. Vardinoyannis and Latsis have high profiles in Greece. Mr. Latsis, whose family also controls Greece's second-biggest bank and a leading property developer, is ranked as Greece's second-richest man by Forbes. His net worth of $2.6 billion puts him just a bit below American television celebrity Oprah Winfrey in the global billionaires' league table.
The report says that "consumers and producers, taxpayers, independent and franchised gas stations" would all benefit from liberalization. But it warned that "owners and employees of the two refineries and their wholesalers" as well as "customs officials" would likely resist change.
ATHENS—Lack of competition in Greece's oil-refining industry is costing consumers here more than $1 billion a year, according to a draft internal report by the International Monetary Fund, in an indication of the deep structural problems that many economists believe are hobbling Greece's chances of recovering its footing.
Despite five years of recession, soaring unemployment and repeated efforts to open up its highly regulated economy, prices in Greece remain stubbornly high—a major obstacle to restoring its lost competitiveness and growth. One reason, according to the IMF and other analysts, is a combination of dominant companies and excessive regulation that stifles competitors. Efforts to liberalize dozens of sectors, including legal services and cruise shipping, have made only modest headway.
IMF officials are part of a troika of international inspectors monitoring Athens's overhauls as part of the country's latest €173 billion ($225 billion) bailout deal. The internal report, prepared by the IMF's on-the-ground team in Athens, details a thicket of bureaucratic red tape and lapses in law enforcement that it says allow big players to dominate the markets for gas, diesel and heating oil, damaging the economy.
Greece's new conservative-led coalition government, voted into office in June, says it wants to fix that and is moving to combat anticompetitive practices in the marketplace.
"A better-functioning fuels market is something we desire and we will examine every proposal on how to bring that about," said government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou. "We are already doing that by stepping up our checks because we are well aware that due to high taxes"—Greece has the highest fuel taxes in Europe—"Greeks, on account of the crisis, pay very high prices for gasoline overall."
Mr. Kedikoglou wouldn't comment on the specifics of the report, however, saying its contents hadn't been divulged to the government.
The report, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, also levels criticism at the country's two biggest oil refiners, which it says use their market muscle to exert effective control over the heavily regulated market.
As an example, the report outlined a chain of obstacles it says effectively prevent independent gas stations from buying fuel abroad. All importers must have facilities to hold 60 days of inventory, something beyond the capability of many smaller businesses. And fuel can only be transported in large tractor-trailer tankers, though gas stations aren't permitted to own vehicles that large. "This makes it impossible for independent gas stations to transport fuel into Greece," the report says.
The IMF declined to comment on the draft, but confirmed its authenticity.
Although a draft report, and still subject to revision, many of the allegations it makes aren't new. Greece's de facto restrictions on imports—such as the rules relating to storage facilities and the impediments facing independents—have been the subject of more than two decades of complaints by European Union regulators against Greece.
Greece's own antitrust watchdog, the Hellenic Competition Commission, investigated the fuel market in late 2006 and issued four reports and two decisions ordering the government to open up the market, with little effect. The drafting of the IMF report suggests the Fund has now also taken an interest in Greece's fuel market and may press the government to open up the sector as part of the long-term overhauls Greece must make in order to receive continued aid.
Many economists and business people complain of similar problems in dozens of sectors, but the fuel market has perhaps the biggest impact on the economy.
"Uncompetitive markets cause high costs for Greek consumers," the report says. "Given how important energy is for the overall economy, competitiveness of Greece would be improved by better functioning fuel markets. This market needs reform."
"The Greek market is highly concentrated and basically controlled by the two domestic refiners," the IMF report says, adding that lower fuel prices could help push down Greece's consumer inflation rate by more than 1%. It says profit margins for fuel products in Greece are among the highest in Europe, and in the case of home heating oil, more than twice the European Union average.
The report also alleges that the two big refiners, controlled by two of the country's best known and richest tycoons, engage in manipulative and anticompetitive practices. Referring to the Hellenic Competition Commission investigation in 2006 and two European Court of Justice rulings, it contends that Motor Oil Hellas Corinth Refineries SA and Hellenic Petroleum SA—which together own all of the country's refining capacity, control 70% of its wholesale market and 60% of all gas stations—have hit retailers with surcharges, failed to disclose pricing information and manipulated international benchmark indexes.
Motor Oil Hellas, controlled by Greek oil magnate Vardis Vardinoyannis, declined to comment on the report.
Officials at Hellenic Petroleum, which is partly owned by the Greek government, said the problems in the market lie elsewhere.
"Hellenic Petroleum believes that the greatest problem of the Greek fuels market is fuel smuggling, adulteration and cheating, which lead to distortions in the market that burden the end consumers as well as the legitimate companies," said a spokesman for the company. "Hellenic Petroleum has submitted to the authorities a written 10-point proposal with their positions on how to eliminate those distortions."
Hellenic Petroleum, the larger of the two firms, is controlled by shipping and oil tycoon Spiros Latsis, who owns 41.9%. The Greek government owns a 35.5% stake.
Messrs. Vardinoyannis and Latsis have high profiles in Greece. Mr. Latsis, whose family also controls Greece's second-biggest bank and a leading property developer, is ranked as Greece's second-richest man by Forbes. His net worth of $2.6 billion puts him just a bit below American television celebrity Oprah Winfrey in the global billionaires' league table.
The report says that "consumers and producers, taxpayers, independent and franchised gas stations" would all benefit from liberalization. But it warned that "owners and employees of the two refineries and their wholesalers" as well as "customs officials" would likely resist change.
Πηγή: http://logioshermes.blogspot.com
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