What goes on in Poland on the 9th of January.
Watchdog starts proceedings on fuel prices in Poland
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has started proceedings regarding prices at gas stations in Poland. This is a reaction to PKN Orlen dropping its wholesale prices.
– This situation definitely needs to be investigated. Yesterday we started the verification procedure and asked businesses questions to clarify this matter. We want to explain the situation on the Polish market in detail. In order to properly assess this situation on the basis of antimonopoly law, we must, in accordance with the case law, take into account the prices on the European market – revealed the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection Tomasz Chróstny in response to a question from BiznesAlert.pl.
– We want to clarify in detail whether there is no price coordination between businesses and whether there is no abuse of a dominant position on the market – explained President Chróstny with regard to the wholesale and retail fuel markets and production capacity. He noted that UOKiK cannot impose a price on a company, but it may identify abuses such as price-fixing or abuse of a dominant position.
– Enterprises do not have to use the cost model, but use the benchmarks of European markets. Therefore, the analysis requires examining what has happened in other member states, so that, based on data from entrepreneurs and other countries, it is possible to assess what happened. When we have this analysis, we will provide you with information – he added in response to the question of BiznesAlert.pl. He assured that decisions on possible action would also be made at that time.
Inflation declined to 16,6 percent in December
The Central Statistical Office has released a preliminary estimate of inflation for December 2022. Prices rose 16.6 percent year-on-year from 17,5 percent in November. On average, analysts expected the indicator to increase to 17,3 percent.
On a monthly basis, prices rose by 0,2 percent. At the beginning of 2023, however, one has to take into account that the price dynamics will increase again. The NBP (National Bank of Poland) inflation target is 2,5 percent with an acceptable deviation up or down by 1 percentage point.
Preliminary data from the Central Statistical Office show that food prices increased by 21.5 percent, energy prices by 31.2 percent, and fuel prices by 13,5 percent on an annual basis. Compared to the previous month, total prices increased by 0,2 percent, with food prices by 1,4 percent, energy carriers by 3,3 percent and fuels by 1,6 percent. Before Thursday’s data release, PKO BP analysts predicted that the price growth in December slowed down slightly compared to November.