Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 17/06/2022
“Thanks to the Janša government, Slovenia has the lowest fuel prices,” was the title of a 6 June article on the Spodnje Podravje portal. An article with the same headline was published on the Nova24TV portal the same day.
Both articles named as their source a piece published the same day on the Moja Dolenjska portal whose author cites as their source data by the Slovenian Automobile Association (AMZS) on prices of 95-octane petrol and diesel in 20 European countries, including 15 EU member states.
The AMZS explained that the data on fuel prices are provided by foreign automobile clubs and are merely indicative prices. The data published on 6 June on their website were no longer available because they had already been updated and no records of previous prices were kept.
We compared the prices published by Spodnje Podravje with fuel prices across the EU published by the European Commission. The data are provided by member states and updates are published by the Commission every Monday. We obtained the data for Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia from official sources. The data for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Switzerland came from globalpetrolprices.com, a database that calculates the prices using at least three independent sources, including data from government departments and international oil companies, according to the description of their methodology.
On 10 May the previous government issued a decree on prices of oil derivatives that set a ceiling on the retail prices of 95-octane petrol and diesel. Until 10 August the maximum permitted retail price was EUR 1.56 per liter for petrol and EUR 1.67 for diesel.
European Commission data show that on 6 June the average price of petrol in the EU was EUR 1.97 per liter. It was lowest in Hungary, where it cost EUR 1.36, 30 cents less than in Slovenia. Malta also had a lower price, EUR 1.34.
The average price of diesel in the EU on 6 June was EUR 1.88. Diesel was cheapest in Malta, costing EUR 1.21 or 45.8 cents less than in Slovenia. Prices in Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria were also lower than in Slovenia. Outside the EU, Montenegro had cheaper diesel as well, according to data provided by the Montenegrin government.
A comparison of petrol and diesel prices in 15 EU member states published by Spodnje Podravje with the data released by the European Commission shows that the only accurate piece of information was the price in Slovenia, the data for other countries was wrong.
The most significant difference was for Hungary, where the portal claimed petrol cost EUR 1.99 and diesel EUR 1.97; according to European Commission data, the actual prices on 6 June were EUR 1.26 and EUR 1.41, respectively.
The AMZS however warned that only vehicles registered in Hungary paid EUR 1.26 for petrol. “The drivers of vehicles with license plates of other countries are currently paying a price in excess of two euros.”
The claim by the portal that thanks to the Janša government Slovenia has the lowest fuel prices is incorrect.