The time for announcements on the sharp energy price increases has arrived, with the measures expected to be unveiled by Kyriakos Mitsotakis at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting. Tomorrow’s announcements will focus on fuels, to be followed on October 14 by announcements regarding heating oil.
Read: Kyriakos Mitsotakis: In Aspropyrgos on Tuesday — where he’ll be and who he’ll meet
Mitsotakis’s measures to address the energy crisis
In total, the package consists of 5+1 measures — though sources suggest tomorrow’s announcements may also include an additional surprise measure, which was the subject of closed-door discussions the Prime Minister held yesterday, a day on which he had deliberately cleared his schedule of any official meetings or visits.
On heating oil, the government is targeting a minimum reduction of 15 cents per litre from the refineries, matched by an equal contribution from the state budget — bringing the total reduction to 30 cents per litre. However, sources indicate this figure could ultimately rise to 40 cents in total. This means that if the retail price were to stand at €2 per litre — as it would have been had heating oil distribution begun today — the intervention could bring it down to €1.70, or even as low as €1.60.
The second measure involves extending into October the existing diesel fuel subsidy (10 cents per litre), which also helps keep costs in check across the supply chain and, by extension, holds down the final prices of goods transported by road. In parallel, refineries will continue offering the discounts they currently provide on both diesel and unleaded petrol.
A third measure also concerns heating oil and provides for an across-the-board increase in the heating allowance — likely by around 20% — without any changes to the income eligibility criteria. Importantly, this measure applies not only to those who heat their homes with oil, but also to those using natural gas or firewood.
The fourth measure also relates to the heating allowance and provides for an additional payment for mountainous regions, which experience significantly colder temperatures during winter.
A fifth measure — which has not yet been confirmed as part of the government’s response package for what is expected to be a very difficult winter ahead — is a cap on profit margins, applying to both petroleum product distributors and retail fuel station operators. This measure may ultimately not be activated.
Mitsotakis pushes Europe on excise duty relief
At the same time, the Greek government is pressing Brussels to take action to curb rising energy prices and to allow EU member states to reduce excise duties without this counting against the so-called expenditure ceilings. The issue is expected to be raised more forcefully on October 15 and 16, when the European Union Summit will take place in Brussels.
According to sources close to the Prime Minister, following his visit to the United States and the meetings he held there, Mr. Mitsotakis returned with two clear takeaways: first, that Greece is internationally recognized as a pillar of regional stability, with an economy proving resilient in an environment marked by financial turbulence — and in particular by the crisis in sovereign bond markets. Second, that he found widespread international concern over the persistence of global geopolitical and economic instability, the trajectory and end of which no one is able to predict.
The Mitsotakis plan: putting the brakes on energy prices while maintaining fiscal balance
It is therefore natural, sources emphasize, that the Prime Minister, upon returning from the United States, would focus on leveraging Greece’s economic performance to address the cost-of-living crisis.
According to the same sources, what Mr. Mitsotakis made clear to his team from the outset was that the emphasis can now shift toward income support measures — building on and complementing the measures he announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair — without, under any circumstances, disrupting the country’s fiscal balance. Any such disruption, he stressed, could trigger a new national crisis within the broader global crisis. Furthermore, in a fluid situation such as the current one, no long-term response plan is feasible — meaning that any support measures will be announced gradually, following a careful assessment of conditions at each given moment.
