No one can play with citizens’ income, the Minister of State emphasized Akis Schertsoson the subject of the prices of of tickets on the coastal lines. Some deductions were registered, the matter, however, for the government is not over, the controls will continue, he announced in an interview with SKAI 100.3.

As he noted in detail, “we have responded to society’s reasonable request to have affordable and competitive prices on coastal ferry connections. We looked over this particular market and saw that there is, indeed, a de-escalation of fuel prices, which is the main cost factor for coastal lines, by almost 50% compared to last year. However, the fuel remains 20% more expensive than historical fuel price levels». In addition, he added, “the picture is somewhat more complex, there is an increase in wages, the minimum wage has increased and the average wages have increased, so the labor costs for the liners have increased.”

Beyond that, he continued, “there is, indeed, a margin in price variation, which can be shifted towards a more attractive price package. And, we discussed in a constructive spirit with the companies, before using other means. The society’s request was heard, I think, the results of this dialogue are already visible. What I saw yesterday from the big companies that announced new discount packages, is that they are doing discounts of 20% to 30% on family packages, on car use, on popular destinations, on special social packages. So there is a response,” he concluded.

But, “in any case, the government is above this particular market. The shipping market will also be added to the Price Observatory of the Ministry of Development. What we’ve seen in the context of exogenous inflation is that price transparency brings more competition, brings more informed choices for consumers. This is what we want, markets to function more competitively. We will monitor the response of the companies”, he also pledged while announcing that:

“The discussion is not over, not all companies have responded, not even to the extent we would like.” Additionally, “we are on top of the market, monitoring its response to society’s and government’s demand for more reasonable prices based on real costs. In any case, we are here to intervene.”

According to Mr. Schertsos, “the state, the state now has much more tools in its hands to control these deviant behaviors, which do not take into account the great pressure that the family income is under at the moment. Inflation and accuracy is the No1 problem for society, for every European society. It is persistent,” he said, although, he clarified, in our country “it has de-escalated faster than the rest of the European countries. It is at 1.8% in the previous month, but it remains high for basic necessities, for food. We have also established a Price Observatory, which now does its job very well and creates conditions of transparency and price comparison, which is a very useful tool to make the right choices.”

At the same time, “we have already established since the beginning of the inflationary energy crisis a policy tool, which controls the levels of profitability in relation to the pre-crisis period. Any business or any sector throughout the supply chain, shows profits in excess of the reasonable profit, which existed before the crisis, then it is checked and sanctions are imposed for this behavior. No one can play, at this time, with the income of the citizens. The government is putting a lot of effort into reducing taxes and increasing incomes.” Which, “cannot be gnawed by the greed of some”, he pointed out closing the specific answer.