More Greek Cypriots cross to the north for fuel as prices rise
The customs department says more Greek Cypriots are buying fuel in the occupied north as prices rise in the Republic, with petrol and diesel considerably cheaper across the crossing points.
Nicosia, Cyprus. More Greek Cypriots are crossing into the occupied north to fill their tanks as fuel prices in the Republic continue to rise, the customs department said on Saturday.
Crossings and fuel seizures
Speaking on CyBC, customs department spokesman George Constantinou said the trend appears whenever fuel prices rise or are expected to increase.
He compared the current period with February and March, when the US-Israeli war with Iran broke out and fuel seizures at crossing points “almost quadrupled”.
Before that period, officers seized an average of 150 to 200 litres of fuel a month. The figure subsequently rose to about 500 litres each of petrol and diesel.
Constantinou described the decision to buy fuel in the north as “a purely moral issue” for the public. He also warned that “fuel quality in the north is not supervised in the same manner” as in the Republic.
Fuel prices in the Republic
The latest figures from the consumer protection service’s price observatory put the nationwide average price of unleaded 95 at €1.757 a litre, unleaded 98 at €1.812, diesel at €2.022 and heating oil at €1.678.
Diesel prices range from €1.939 a litre in Larnaca to €2.126 in Limassol. Unleaded 95 ranges from €1.669 in Larnaca to €1.829 in Paphos and Nicosia.
Lower prices in the north
Fuel prices in the north are considerably lower. The latest figures put 95-octane petrol at 77.12 Turkish lira (€1.38) a litre and diesel at 76 Turkish lira (€1.36).
Those prices make petrol about a fifth cheaper than the nationwide average in the Republic and diesel around a third cheaper.
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