The center-right government has announced a three-month profit cap effective Thursday for the food sector, supermarkets and petrol stations, to soften the impact of the Middle East crisis on Greek consumers.
Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said the cap would be imposed through fast-track legislation that will remain in effect “temporarily” until June 30.
“The legislative act … will be published by tonight, so that the measures can be immediately implemented,” he said. “No government can control international developments… but we can and we are determined to control instances of profiteering.
Hatzidakis also insisted that Greece faces no fuel supply disruptions. The country has seen fuel prices rise over the past few days amid the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos said penalties would include maximum fines of €5 million, depending on the size of the company and the quantities involved.
“It is a very strict measure for the market, but it is also fair,” Theodorikakos said. “Profit is acceptable, profiteering is not.”
Officials said the benchmark for the cap in the food sector would be average prices for last year. In the fuel market, petrol stations will be allowed a maximum profit of 12 cents per liter, with a slight increase for island outlets where transportation costs are higher.
“Clearly we cannot address primary price increases, but we are certainly sending the message that this financial upheaval cannot lead to instances of profiteering, which will make an existing problem worse,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said earlier Wednesday, during a meeting with President Konstantinos Tassoulas.
“We will remain constantly vigilant for further economic consequences of the crisis, naturally voicing the wish that what appears right now to be a big problem should not become even worse,” he added.
Greece is already in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis that started during the pandemic and intensified following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The across-the-board increase in housing costs, energy prices and basic consumer goods comes on the heels of debilitating income cuts and tax hikes imposed during Greece’s 2010-2018 debt crisis.
In his brief discussion with Tassoulas, Mitsotakis also spoke of the Foreign Ministry’s complex operation to repatriate Greeks trapped due to flight bans triggered by the war in the Middle East.
He furthermore voiced concern over the effects of the fighting on the stability of Lebanon, which has suffered massive attacks from neighboring Israel.
“We are particularly concerned over Lebanon’s stability,” Mitsotakis said. “We have expressed strong disagreement with any protracted ground campaign in southern Lebanon, and voiced support for Lebanese authorities so that they may address the real security problems” caused by the pro-Iran Hezbollah organization in southern Lebanon.
This story has been updated.