Bulgaria led the EU in rising prices for fuels and lubricants for personal vehicles in August this year. That's according to the latest data from Eurostat, published on the statistical agency's website. The increase in Bulgaria surpassed the previous peak of 33.9 percent, recorded in May. This is the highest level since the start of the conflict between the United States and Iran, which began in late February.
Across the EU as a whole, fuel and lubricant prices rose by an average of 23.8 percent in August compared to August of last year. The pace continues to accelerate. In June, the increase stood at 13.7 percent, and in July it reached 16.9 percent. Only in Malta have prices remained unchanged compared to a year earlier, while in 18 member states the annual increase exceeds 20 percent.
Besides Bulgaria, fuel prices rose sharply in August in Lithuania (28.8 percent), Finland (27.6 percent), Germany (27.5 percent) and France (27.4 percent). The smallest change was seen in Hungary, where prices rose by just 1.3 percent. Sweden followed with 6.1 percent and Ireland with 11.7 percent.
This is not the first month in which Bulgaria has topped such a ranking. In June, the country again recorded the highest annual increase in the EU — 26 percent, compared with an EU average of 13.7 percent. In July, Bulgaria's pace slowed somewhat to 22.2 percent, with Romania (24.2 percent) and both Lithuania and Germany (22.9 percent each) moving ahead. The EU average increase reached 16.9 percent.
Eurostat tracks not only annual but also monthly price changes. In August, diesel prices across the EU rose by 8.3 percent compared to July, while gasoline rose by 3.3 percent. A month earlier, in July, diesel had risen by 4.3 percent and gasoline by 4.7 percent compared to June.
For diesel, the sharpest increases in August were recorded in the Czech Republic, at 14.3 percent, Bulgaria at 13.5 percent and Luxembourg at 12.3 percent. The smallest rise in diesel prices was seen in Italy, at just 5.2 percent, followed by Romania at 6.1 percent and the Netherlands at 6.2 percent.
The picture for gasoline is more mixed. Twenty-two member states reported price increases in August compared to July, prices fell in three countries, and remained unchanged in two others. Gasoline prices jumped the most in Spain, up 8.2 percent, followed by Romania at 6.6 percent, Italy at 6.3 percent and Cyprus at 6.2 percent. Gasoline prices edged down slightly in Hungary, by minus 0.6 percent, Denmark, by minus 0.3 percent, and Slovakia, by minus 0.1 percent.
The surge in prices, particularly for diesel, stems from the economic fallout of the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. As a result, fuel prices hit record levels in a number of European countries over the past month, Eurostat noted.
BTA recalls that on Friday the Bulgarian government announced a package of measures against high fuel prices worth more than 300 million euros in total. Among them is the elimination of excise duty on propane-butane. Support is also planned in the form of subsidies for key strategic sectors, including public transport as well as school and medical transportation services.
Eurostat's data show that rising fuel prices in Bulgaria are moving in step with the broader trend across the European Union, but the pace in Bulgaria has remained higher than almost anywhere else in the bloc in recent months. Besides topping the ranking in August, the country also led in June and remained among the front-runners in July despite some slowdown in the rate of increase. According to the statistical agency, the reasons behind the price rises lie mainly in the international situation and global crude oil prices, while the government's measures aim to soften the blow to households and key strategic sectors in the country.