Paphos, Cyprus, runs out of petrol
February 25, 2010The Cyprus petrol station strike continues.
Paphos now has no petrol, according to the the Cyprus Mail.
PAPHOS residents have become the unwitting pawns in the ongoing face-off between the Commerce Minister and petrol station owners, who have shut up shop over a freeze in petrol prices.
Many motorists are down to the last drops of fuel in their tanks, with no way of filling up.
Not a single petrol station was open in the coastal town yesterday, with locals resorting to carpooling and skipping work altogether, rather than run the risk of running out of petrol.
The town seems to be forgotten, with at least two stations open in the rest of the island’s major towns.
A police spokeswoman told the Cyprus Mail, “It’s a real problem for us – we have so many people calling us and shouting that they have no petrol, but it’s not our fault.
Neither side, the petrol station chains nor the government, show any signs of backing down yet.
The umbrella organisation for the petrol stations is now demanding that the oil companies compensate them for losses incurred during the strike.
President of POVEK’s petrol station operators’ section, Stefanos Stefanou, said his members’ main demand now is that the estimated €150,000-200,000 cost of the price-cap for the eight days covered by the order should be borne by the oil companies, whose wholesale prices to the station operators are determining the price at the pump.
Cyprus Weekly reports that government officials are meeting this morning to discuss the situation.
NICOSIA – The House Commerce committee is this morning discussing the island-wide petrol station strike.
The strike has created chaos and inconvenienced motorists, since Tuesday, following a decree by Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides imposing a ceiling on pump prices.
A bill by Edek that would allow the Minister to issue a decree for a ceiling on wholesale prices by petrol companies will be tabled at the House.
Aradippou Tales - A Life in Cyprus 
I’m not sure whats worse, the petrol strike thats had us all worrying if we’d got enough petrol to last us or the fact that the prices have rocketed by around 10 cents a litre since the strike ended :( either way I’m not happy at having to pay extra when the rest of the world is dropping its prices :(
Hi Pete. Very true. The Government are being remarkably quiet about the latest price rises.
They were the ones who introduced the cap at 95¢ yet they are saying nothing now the price is nudging 105¢. I *know* that is cheaper than most (all?) of the rest of Europe, but the average income is significantly lower too.