Prime Minister Edi Rama held today, at the “House of Business,” an extended meeting with oil suppliers, with the aim of jointly coping with the impact of the current global crisis and protecting consumers as much as possible from rising prices.

At the meeting, attended also by the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Delina Ibrahimaj, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Enea Karakaçi, and the Minister of Finance, Petrit Malaj, Prime Minister Rama stressed that the situation, aggravated by the war of the United States and Israel against the criminal regime of Tehran, has brought, as one of its consequences, the issue of rising oil prices on the global market, with possible repercussions on the market in Albania as well.

The Prime Minister underlined that the aim of the government is not restrictive intervention in the market, but ensuring a fair balance between business interests and the protection of citizens in a challenging economic period.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama:

We considered it reasonable to organize this discussion in conditions where the situation, aggravated by the war of the United States and Israel against the criminal regime of Tehran, has brought, as one of its consequences, the issue of rising oil prices.

We have, from the very beginning, taken the necessary steps to immediately re-establish the bridge of communication with you, in the conditions of a new crisis with possible consequences on the market in Albania, taking into account previous practices and especially the periods when, due to international crises, I recall here the crisis caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, for example, we have had to take a role in the entire process of handling the commodity for which we are gathered, which is oil.

I have continuously received information from the ministers present here, and before giving them the floor in turn, I wish to express, in a way, a positive consideration for your approach, which at this stage has been a responsible approach. Because if overall in the market, through the increase of global prices, an increase of up to 40% in price has been observed, which creates strong pressure on supply chains in Albania, the price here has increased, but in a much more moderate way compared to the increase seen due to the increase in global oil prices in some other countries.

Nevertheless, the challenge remains open. No one can say when that battle will end, which in fact keeps the oil price tied to it. No one can say how the price will go on the international markets, whether there will be further increases or whether they will stabilize at a certain point. But it is certain that we must do what we can do and what our duty is, starting from reserves.

According to the information received, it is considered that you have a reasonable reserve, which physically is there for 30 days, while in your contracts it appears guaranteed for around 100 days, and this is positive. However, the situation remains monitored day by day.

On the other hand, we have under public consultation the law on the state reserve, which should extend physically to 100 days, more precisely three months. And in short, I want to tell you that we are working to finalize an initiative we have undertaken to introduce into the market, as a guaranteed distributor and wholesale distributor, a state factor. This, we believe, will make work easier for all of you, as it will guarantee the necessary quantities, with state support, and on the other hand will facilitate all relations with third parties, which for you currently pass through brokers, while we will aim to have a direct relationship with companies.

This is the summary overview I wanted to give.

I want to conclude by asking you to maintain this balance that you have maintained until now. We have not considered it reasonable, based on previous communications with you through the ministers, to take a step and move to a board, because at the end of the day, if dialogue functions as it has functioned until now, our aim is not to constrain you in your work.

Our aim is that together we reach an understanding that the crisis in the Middle East cannot be projected entirely onto the shoulders of consumers. This is our whole aim.

Naturally, this means lower profit margins for you, but better lower margins than the board at your expense. This is the conclusion we have reached.

In the meantime, I now give the floor to the Minister of Economy to provide a somewhat more detailed overview, considering that, unlike other meetings, we are also holding this meeting to inform the public. These are things you generally know, but let others know as well, so they understand that if there is a price increase, it is a moderate increase compared to what is happening on the on international markets, and it is the result of this constructive approach that you have shown so far.