Incentives were established for those who provide information. B)
Specifically, for the fuel sector, the following were established:
(a) Electronic register for the inventory of all fuel tanks.
(b) Obligation to install
an inflows-outflows control system, in addition to service stations, in tax
warehouses and customs warehouses for LPG storage.
(c) Obligation to install
a Global Positioning System (GPS) on tank trucks and floating logistics and
other ships transporting marine fuel.
(d) In order tolimitadulteration, obligationtotax mark (trace)fuels, includingLPG,by employingnewmoleculartracers.
(e)Sealing of fueltankersforwhichanexporthasbeendeclaredtoensurethattheydonotenter
the territoryofthecountry
(f) Severe penalties for
fuel smuggling and fuel adulteration, fraud of the inflows-outflows system and
storage of fuel in illegal tanks. Inparticular:(i) the imprisonment sentencesforsmugglingoffencehavebeentoughened,
(ii) provision has been made for the temporary sealing, for up to 3 months,
of service stations and other fuel trading facilities and the publication of
the details of offenders for fuel adulteration infringements; iii) strict fines
were introduced for the non-installation as well as the fraud of the
inflows-outflows system, the non-registration in the Tank Register and the
non-installation of GPS in the tank trucks and the floating logistics
(g) a fine was
set for obstructing customs control
(h) financial and
other incentives have been introduced for those who help to uncover important
smuggling cases
For the implementation of
the above, a series of Ministerial Decisions have already been issued and at
the same time the electronic monitoring and control systems are being
implemented. In addition, by article 58 of Law 4818/2021, a comprehensive
regulatory framework was introduced for the first time in Greek legislation to
limit unfair profitability in times of crisis, by establishing a maximum
percentage of gross profit margin throughout the fuel trading chain. Also, for
the first time, it is allowed to disclose the trade name of companies that
violate the measures put in place to limit unfair profitability, with the aim
of directly protecting consumers.
III. Strengthening and
coordinating operational actions. Operational action to combat smuggling is
based on two axes: firstly, the prosecution of criminal organisations, and
secondly, the control of delinquency and increased compliance. Having made
strategic and systematic interventions, identified weaknesses of the control
bodies have been remedied, the poor results of previous years have been
reversed and significant progress has been made on both axes, with tangible
results. Specifically: Regarding the prosecution of criminalorganizations: During the periodfrom
1.1.2021to30.4.2022, 22arrests
were madebytheprosecutingauthorities(I.A.P.R..,
S.D.O.E.,
Hellenic Police),276,758liters of liquidfuels, 4,200,000kg
of LPG and 10tanktrucks were seizedand79VAT numbersofnon-existent orinactivechemicalsolventtradingcompaniesweredeactivated.
Indicative of the progress achieved is that while seizures, by all law
enforcement authorities, of liquid fuels were 67,795 liters in 2019, 92,927
liters in 2020, they amounted to 198,669 liters in 2021 and 78,089 liters
already in the first four months of 2022 (SEK data, tables 1 and 2).
Regarding the control of
delinquency – compliance of the market:
In implementation of the provisions of Law 4758/2020 and Decision A.
1079/2022 of the Governor of IAPR, the 1st Customs of Piraeus, in
the context of an action of IAPR to limit smuggling and by utilizing the data
analysis of the inflows outflows system, proceeded to a control of a gas
station in Nikaia. Analyses by the GeneralChemical State Laboratoryrevealedthat the service station inquestionhadadulteratedfuels; as a result, on1.7.2022,
thefirstsealing of a servicestation for fueladulterationwasimposed,foraperiodoftendays. This will be
followed by the publication of the details of the offender, the infringement
and the sanctions for one year, in accordance with the current regulatory
framework.
Sealing of a
service station,
modern electronic
control tools were made available to the prosecuting authorities,
a comprehensive
and strict system of sanctions was established,
the framework for
the effective planning and supervision of the operational action of the
prosecuting authorities was created
Press release Results of
the intensive effort to fight smuggling and unfair profitability in the fuel
market. In the context of the intensification of actions against smuggling and
unfair profitability in the fuel market, a wide-ranging government meeting was
held, in which participated the Ministers of Finance, Mr. Chr. Staikouras,
Development and Investment Mr. Ad. Georgiadis, Shipping and Insular Policy, Mr.
I. Plakiotakis, the Deputy Minister of Finance Mr. Ap. Vesyropoulos, the Deputy
Minister of Citizen Protection, Mr. El. Oikonomou, the Secretary General of Tax
Policy and Public Property, Mr. Emm. Mastromanolis, the Secretary General of
Energy and Mineral Resources, Mrs. Al. Sduku, the Secretary-General for Trade
and Consumer Protection, Mr Sot. Anagnostopoulos, the Secretary General of
Fiscal Policy, Mr. Ath. Petralias and the Governor of the Independent Authority
for Public Revenue (IAPR), Mr. G. Pitsilis. The government's planning against
smuggling and unfair profitability in the fuel market is implemented on the
basis of three main axes: I. Strategic planning and central operational
supervision. II. Systematic legislative and regulatory interventions. III.
Strengthening and coordinating operational actions. This planning has yielded significant and
measurable results compared to previous years, has dealt critical blows to
criminal smuggling networks and has limited unfair profitability at all stages
of fuel trading.
I. Strategic planning and
central operational supervision First of all, by an Act of the Council of
Ministers, the "Governmental Committee for Strategic Planning and
Operational Supervision for the Restriction of Smuggling in Products subject to
Excise Duty and Consumption Tax" was established, with the task of
defining the national strategy and defining the individual objectives for the
reduction of smuggling, in all excisable products (fuel, alcohol, tobacco) and
the monitoring of their implementation, the operational supervision of the law
enforcement authorities and the monitoring of the implementation of the fuel
inflows-outflows system. Then, by Law 4758/2020, the law that established a
coherent and comprehensive framework for the restriction of smuggling, the
Coordinating Operational Center for Smuggling (SEK) was upgraded and staffed
with experienced and specialized personnel, which was placed under the
supervision of the Government Committee. These strategic interventions achieved
effective supervision and coordination of law enforcement authorities, optimal
information management and ultimately maximization of the effectiveness of
operational action.
II. Systematic
legislative and regulatory interventions A) In 2020, law 4758/2020 established
for the first time an integrated approach to limit smuggling and fuel
adulteration. With this law and its implementing decisions: The
General Chemical State Laboratory carried out 3,912 laboratory chemical
analyses, for all law enforcement authorities, from which 251 irregular
(against specifications) samples were found.
Table 1. Seizures of liters
of liquid fuels, on an annual basis
Table 2. Seizures of a
quantity of liters, per type of liquid fuel. The very good performance of the
law enforcement authorities is not only observed in the fuel sector but in the
total of excisable products, since in 2021 their effectiveness more than doubled
compared to previous years (from 12.5% on average in the four-year period
2017-2020, to 27% in 2021, an increase of 116%,
Table 3. Effective
actions of the Services in excisable products 67.795 92.927 198.669 78.089 2019
2020 2021 4M2022 Seizures of liquid fuels 120.330 61.586 16.753 50.462 21.610
6.017 DESIGNER FUELS (LT) GASOLINE (LT) OIL (LT) Seizures by type of liquid
fuel 2021 4M 2022
Control and
limitation of unfair profitability in the fuel market Based on the latest
aggregated data of the General Secretariat of Trade of the Ministry of
Development and Investments, the Interagency Market Control Unit (DIMEA) has
significantly increased the number of controls in the fuel market and has
confirmed a significant number ofoffenses.
Table 4.
Combating unfair profitability - General Secretariat of Commerce and DIMEA. In
addition, DIMEA has imposed, to date, fines of 2,042,000 euros for unfair
profitability in all wholesale and retail sectors in the market
The rapid increase in the
efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement agencies, despite the adversity
caused by the pandemic, is neither circumstantial nor accidental, but is due to
the clear orientation, proper planning and effective supervision, the
improvement of investigative methods and the use of advanced analytical control
tools, and above all to the strong political will to limit smuggling,
adulteration and, in general, delinquency in the entire fuel supply chain. Good
performance does not create complacency and the concerted government effort
against smuggling is intensifying, with the issue always remaining very high on
the government's agenda. The completion of the implementing regulatory
framework of Law 4758/2020 and the electronic applications continues. In
addition, at the extended interministerial meeting, decisions were taken for
immediate initiatives, such as the assimilation of the excise tax coefficients
of industrial LPG with LPG for other uses, the mandatory use of electronic
means of payment for all transactions of excisable goods and the notification
of receipt from other member states or from within the country, of solvents and
other new type products used in fuel adulteration. The great interministerial
government effort to combat smuggling and fuel adulteration is ongoing, has
already borne fruit and will continue unabated to protect households and
businesses. The Fuel Handling and Storage Control Units of the Ministry of
Environment and Energy carry out daily inspections at gas stations in Attica
and Thessaloniki. The tests are carried out with mobile laboratory units
(van). The units of the Fuel Movement
and Storage Control Centers (KEDAK) carried out preventive checks with 6,471
samplings and imposed fines worth 1,763,050 euros, (liquid fuels, due to
adulteration. Based on the data of SEK, from 1.1.2021 until 30.4.2022, in the
fuel sector they were made in total by IAPR, the Hellenic Police. and the
S.D.O.E. 19,282 checks and 1,868 offenses were found. In addition, in the same
period of time:…
