Cyprus’s Consumer Protection Service and the island’s main consumer body have reached opposite conclusions from the same fuel price data, clashing over whether a government excise duty cut has been fully passed on to drivers.
The government reduced excise duty on motor fuels by 8.33 cents per litre. According to the Retail Price Observatory, the average price of unleaded 95 petrol fell by 7.9 cents per litre — from €1.593 to €1.514 — between the evening of 3 April and the morning of 4 April, while diesel dropped by 7.6 cents, from €1.919 to €1.843.
Consumer Protection Service director Constantinos Karagiorgis said there was “no overcharging or profiteering,” attributing the small shortfall against the full 8.33 cents to the “dynamic conditions” of the market and rising international prices for refined products driven by the Middle East conflict.
He dismissed the Consumers Association’s concerns as “scaremongering,” saying drivers were clearly paying less than they would have without the measure.
The Cyprus Consumers Association rejected that assessment. Its president, Marios Drousiotis, expressed deep disappointment at the Service’s position and said it had offered “excuses that don’t hold up.”
The association monitored prices at all 317 petrol stations across Cyprus every half hour and found that by 08:00 on Saturday, 19 stations had not reduced their prices at all, while 97 had cut prices by less than the full 8.33 cents. One company operating a network of 19 stations reduced prices by between just 2 and 6.5 cents per litre.
Drousiotis said the association was troubled that the Service “justified the reduced subsidy amount without having the detailed data that we drew from its own website,” insisting that part of the state support had been unjustifiably absorbed by stations.
Current average prices stand at €1.513 per litre for unleaded 95, ranging from €1.444 to €1.599, and €1.842 for diesel, ranging from €1.747 to €1.899. Heating oil averages €1.355, with prices ranging from €1.279 to €1.479.
Despite the tax cut, prices remain well above their levels before the escalation of the US-Israel-Iran conflict. Since 27 February 2026, unleaded 95 has risen by 19.9 cents per litre — from €1.314 to €1.513 — while diesel has surged by 43.2 cents, from €1.410 to €1.842. Heating oil has climbed by 40.6 cents, from €0.949 to €1.355.