Fuel bill, what doesn’t add up in Adolfo Urso’s fuel law. Sperduto (Faib): “Never to“I have no friendly governments: we have earned all the conquests of this category”
There fuel reformpostponed for “further investigations”, is a time bomb, ready to explode in the hands of the government. The decree targets four key points: incentives for electric charging stations (a proposal already anticipated by Minister Adolfo Urso at La Piazza, the affaritaliani.it event), 20% cut in distributors, abolition of the average fuel price And Regulation of authorizations. Other issues include the regulation of management contracts and the rationalization of the distribution network.
On paper, it seems like a necessary plan to modernise and rationalise an often stagnant and fragmented sector, in reality trade organisations such as Faib Confesercenti, Fegica and Figisc/Anisa Confcommercio define the reform “the most reckless and worst reform since vehicle refueling began in this country.”
According to the unions, the bill risks limiting the autonomy of the managers, making them even more dependent on the big oil companies, and with the new five-year contracts (revocable with 90 days’ notice) the managers would find themselves working under the sword of Damocles of possible dismissal at any time. This is why the unions are talking about a precariousness disguised as a reform. To shed light on such a controversial bill, affaritaliani.it interviewed the President of Faib (Italian Autonomous Federation of Petrol Station Attendants), Joseph Lost.
Mr. President, why are trade organizations so opposed to the reform?
There are already rules that regulate the fuel distribution sector, such as Law 24, which we do not intend to give up. In that law it is clearly specified that all contracts applied in this sector must be standardized and approved by trade associations.
The crucial point? Why do we need a new law to legitimize the contracts that they would like to apply on the network? If there were no such law, those contracts would be contestable, therefore illegal, otherwise, there would be no need for a decree law. In any case, we expected this blow in the back just before the August holidays.
Why does he call it a ‘shot in the back’?
It was all done at the last minute and on the sly, by inserting it into the package of beach resorts. With all due respect to this category, as well as to the taxi drivers who complain of major difficulties, we have never blocked roads or set fire to dumpsters, creating inconvenience for citizens. When we were in January 2023 accused of being a category of profiteers and speculators, we have strongly reiterated (and called for a mobilization of the category, to the point of risking a strike) that the price is not decided by the manager, but by the oil company. Paradoxically, the more the price at the pump increases, the less the manager earnsWe don’t work on a percentage basis: we have contracts with a fixed profit per litre, usually 4-5 cents per litre.
Everyone asks me why we are blocking this decree. The Italian network is made up of approximately 22,500 distributors, of which 50% are in the hands of oil companies while the remaining 50% are managed by private individuals.The price at the pump is decided by the companies, and the managers must adapt. What does this entail? An impoverishment of our work, which takes away our operational autonomy and puts our economic survival at risk.
If this reform “rewards oil companies,” as the unions claim, whose interests are really behind the current proposal?
They are protecting all categories, and then they are imposing on us a contract that lasted three years, and now, with the new decree, has been extended to five. The ministry is imprisoned by oil companiesand it is no coincidence. Otherwise, he would not accept a rule that forces us to submit without negotiation. We call this oil gangmastering, which goes hand in hand with oil illegality.Rivers of money end up in the pockets of shady people who evade VAT and excise duties, taking resources away from the state coffers.
I am fine with all this, because no one will ever be able to say that we, Faib Confesercenti, together with Fegica and Figisc/Anisa Confcommercio, have sold out or settled. They are recognizing our license of legality and transparency. We have never had friendly governments: we have earned the conquests of this category one by one.
So, in your opinion, they are trying to silence the managers. In what sense do you think the oil companies are hindering your work?
They are trying to muzzle people like us, and I am ashamed to let certain oil companies get away with it. It is not a vindictiveness, but when it came to addressing problems and influencing decisions, the companies have proposed embarrassing tender contracts. We managers, in fact, tax on behalf of the State: we act as sentinels and complain when prices rise too much, protecting both citizens and the State, because we guarantee VAT and excise duties. Yet, the oil companies row against us.
Years of struggles risk being erased. I do not envy the minister, who with the problems of the beach resorts, taxi drivers and others, cannot fully understand all the dynamics of our sector. However, feeling rejected in the Council of Ministers and seeing presented such a decree is outrageous, a lack of respect towards a category, with a government under the influence of oil companies.
What do you think about the conversion of thethe fuel network towards electric mobility?
It is an extremely positive initiative, which we have proposed from the beginning. We have worked for two years with the main associations of operators, the oil companies, Unem, Italiana Petroli and Assopetroli for the restructuring and conversion of the plants into electrical hubs. We are fully available for the conversion, even if I fear it could become a boomerang. The future certainly won’t be fully electric.
In the meantime, citizens seem disoriented. And in this regard a joke comes to mind: ‘Once upon a time, when the price of gasoline increased, the citizen used to say: ‘well, who cares, I always put 20 euros’.
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