Households paying €25 for an LPG cylinder, fuel prices that rise like a “rocket” and drop like a “feather,” and a market trend described as “hostile” — that was the picture painted at a parliamentary Commerce Committee session on Monday, as MPs voiced despair over relentless fuel price increases and industry representatives insisted they are not to blame.
The committee heard a figure that framed the debate: based on current international data, petrol in Cyprus should be around €2 per litre. It currently stands at €1.65. Dinos Lefkaritis of Petrolina argued this gap actually reflects well on Cyprus — prices in Greece, he said, are significantly higher — and flatly rejected accusations of profiteering. “We have €500 million turnover with profit of just €6 million a year. Our profit is just 1% of our turnover,” he said.
Lefkaritis said the price increases had been unpredictable and that importing products — especially from Israel — had become extremely difficult due to soaring freight and insurance costs. He was blunt about the industry’s public image. “Oil companies are in the crosshairs,” he said, adding that the sector operates under continuous scrutiny from the Consumer Protection Authority.
On supply security, a KODAP representative sought to reassure the committee that Cyprus holds 90 days of strategic reserves totalling 542,000 metric tonnes — 215,000 tonnes in Cyprus and 30,000 tonnes in Greece. Lefkaritis tempered that reassurance, warning that if the situation continues, the country may need to draw on additional sources.
The scale of the international shock driving prices was laid out by Konstantinos Karagiorgis, director of the Consumer Protection Service. Since the end of February 2026, he said, the Platts index for diesel had surged by 89%, heating oil by 88% and unleaded 95 by 52%. Despite this, he argued Cyprus’s 18% rise in petrol prices was proportionally lower than the international increases. The LPG price rise was attributed to a 77% spike in butane costs.
On electricity, the EAC’s representative told the committee that the impact of international prices on bills would be felt with a time lag due to existing stocks. A 5.5% drop in electricity prices is expected in April compared to March, driven by the VAT reduction and a change in the fuel mix — but the representative was clear that this relief will be short-lived. Prices are set to rise again from May. The EAC has purchased one million emissions rights at a lower price, currently holds 900,000 units, and has pre-purchased 66,000 tonnes of fuel for the second half of 2025.
The political temperature in the room matched the public mood. AKEL’s Kostas Kosta said prices rise like a “rocket” and fall like a “feather” and pointed to LPG cylinders hitting €25 as evidence of household despair. Committee chairman Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis of DISY described the market trend as “hostile.” EDEK’s Elias Myrianthous referred to the intense public outcry.
Fiscal Council president Michalis Persianis said relief measures were essential, noting that economic policy often falls short when it comes to absorbing shocks of this scale. The Finance Ministry is awaiting new inflation figures on Thursday 2 April. The Consumers Association issued the starkest warning of all: the real picture will only emerge in the coming months — and the burdens on households are set to grow even greater.
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