Despite the opposition's accusations against the Transparency Board that it is not protecting the citizens' interest, but also the International Monetary Fund's request for the dissolution of this structure, the government seems to have no intention of withdrawing.
The Minister of Finance, Delina Ibrahimaj, said yesterday that the Fuel Price Monitoring Board will continue to function.
In an interview for "Tv Klan", the minister affirmed that a decision will not be taken on their merger due, according to her, to the instability of prices in international markets.
"As long as we are in conditions of uncertainty about the performance of prices, of energy in general and of fuels in particular, we will continue to hold the boards" .
Ibrahimaj assures that the profit margin for both wholesale and retail trade is controlled, while if the board were to dissolve the abuses would be great.
"This is not just about profit margins in normal situations. But, in situations of speculation, in situations where expectations and uncertainties are high, these margins can increase even more" .
Asked why there is no immediate reflection of the price reduction at retail outlets in the country when this happens on international exchanges, while the opposite happens when there is a price increase on these exchanges, Ibrahimaj explains that the board has prices as a reference point of refined oil and not the price of crude oil on the stock market.
"We try that every time the price of the stock market decreases, we gather immediately, while we postpone the gathering when the prices increase in order to keep the prices in the market as low as possible" .
The Transparency Board, for both fuel and food, was set up in mid-March by legislative act to control the markets amid an international crisis dictated by Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.