Fines in gas stations of liquid fuels announced in advance by the Minister of Development and Investment Adonis Georgiades, while he added that the controls are intensified in order to combat phenomena scandal.
In relation to the provision obliging supply chain to declare the stocks of specific products, Mr. Georgiadis, speaking today at Parapolitika 90.1, stressed that if an undeclared quantity is found, it will be confiscated and a fine will be imposed.
Assured that the Hellas has the warehouses full, while accusing the opposition that it wants to pass the idea that there is an easy solution to get rid of the energy crisis while noting that in dealing with the crisis Greece is claiming a European solution. Finally, he stated that it is not his responsibility to change the electoral law. He said that the period is very difficult.
In more detail in his interview, the minister said: Today I signed the largest fine ever for scandal for a supermarket chain in Greece. Based on the order we have voted, the audit was completed and the fine that entered is 647 thousand. These fines are all collected because then you go to court and challenge it after you have paid it. The message I want to send, and it is absolutely clear, is that we did not vote for the defamation order for communication reasons, to say that we have an order, we voted for it to carry out audits. We do checks, we put fines like today which I think is indicative of our intentions and in the coming days there will be many gas stations where we do checks.
Yes, there is an international crisis that raises prices, we all understand that, in this wave and in this crisis, some should not see it as an opportunity to make more money. Now is the time for all of us in good faith, coordinated and calm to understand that the world is suffering and therefore we must respect the problems that the world has.
In the last three months alone, for gross profit, we have imposed a total of 48 fines on gas stations, food supermarkets, wholesale companies of fruit and vegetables and fresh-frozen meat, as well as covid PCR tests and the total amount of the last three months is 1,376,992. I say that because there are various people, mainly from the opposition, who claim that we do not control the market. I challenged in Parliament both SYRIZA and KINAL if they can bring me from the time of the SYRIZA government and from the time of 25 years of PASOK a fine in a super market for scandal bigger than what has come in my days. Neither KINAL nor SYRIZA produced any. So let people know that those who accuse us of not doing checks are just liars. Not only do we carry out audits, not only have we passed the strictest legislation but we have imposed and collected the largest fines.
Asked in which products the specific supermarket that was given the fine He said: We caught a series of products which mainly concern food already to have exceeded the profit margin of September 1, 2021. By law all the amount that the chain received in addition is doubled as a fine. We do not disclose the name of the company because the chain has the right to sue an administrative fine. I would not like to have done damage to a very large company if and in the end if the court acquits it. Greece remains a western type of democracy and all decisions of the administration are subject to judicial review. Of course, I do not hide from you that it is running through my head that if I see that some people relapse, we should go to Parliament and ask for the approval of the other parties to have the right to announce the names. I do not want to destroy any chain or harm anyone, but I want it to be clear to the world that the Ministry of Development and Investment and I personally are above them and their allies so that no one steals them now. The times are tough, people are suffering we all need to understand what we have to do.
Cutter in the sense that we had put in the antiseptics by law we have not put
Asked if a “cutter” is coming to buy products: Cutter the state in the sense that we had put in antiseptics by law we have not put. An order was passed, in proportion to the order we had voted at the beginning of the pandemic for antiseptics, masks and the whole chain from the importer to the final seller is obliged to declare on the website of the Ministry of Development and Investment the stocks it has from a series of products. Sunflower oil, corn oil, flour and so on. This will mean that first the state will know our exact stocks of each product so we can plan our policy if we see that somewhere there is a problem. Second and foremost because in the provision we say that whoever does not declare a quantity, if a quantity that is not declared is found in control, this quantity is confiscated and a fine of 5,000 to 100,000 is added in addition to the confiscation, what do we not allow to happen? Someone should have kept some quantities of these materials in their warehouse, not to sell, to create conditions of artificial shortage in the market and to raise the price to sell it later at a higher price. This is not allowed to happen because if someone says “I do not sell because I do not have” the inspection will go to his warehouse to see if he has or does not have. And if he has and did not give, he will be declared because he lied, and if he has a quantity that he has not declared, he will be confiscated and a fine will be imposed. I generally want people to know that we are very strict over the problem and I am not going to let anyone fool people.
Ceiling in electronic orders
With reference to ceiling who entered on electronic orders: The same has happened in other European countries. They put a ceiling because the constant reproduction from the news bulletins that there is a problem in these products has created a much increased demand far above the real one, that is, people have started to buy to store, for fear that they will not find it, but this can lead to a shortage of products. So the ceiling came in not because there is a shortage, we do not have a shortage of any of these products, nor of sunflower oil, there are stocks. Greece still has the warehouses full, there is no fear, do not stock up on sunflower oil, you do not need it. It is also available in warehouses of both merchants and supermarkets.
I work with a bad scenario that the war will last a long time, I hope to fall out and the war to be resolved today. I hope that peace will prevail both for humanitarian reasons primarily and for economic reasons secondarily. But because the minister can not work based on what he wishes, I tell you that we are working with the negative scenario and that is why we are monitoring stocks and imports to ensure that our stocks are renewed and we will not have a shortage.
Energy companies
Regarding energy companies The minister said: First of all, yesterday in Parliament I was impressed that the opposition is trying to present the issues as they see fit. Mr. Tsipras said that the super profits are 1.4 billion, then Mr. Velopoulos went up and said that it is 2 billion. Do two political parties for a certain size have a difference in estimate of 600 million? They do not even tell us what evidence they have to look at? I want to be honest with the world, to know what profit a company has to publish a balance sheet, has the balance sheet for 2021 been published? So today in fact how many profits each of the companies has we do not know. When they are published you have to do the following exercise, to see how many profits they had in ’20, how many in ’21, to see if they have a difference and in which months and then to end up in the tax that you will put if and if they have super profits. Some companies answer that they will have super profits, this is the truth, especially those who are the creators of energy and not just traders. Some other companies that are only traders will not have super profits. In the United Kingdom, if you look, for example, all the processing companies have gone bankrupt. The Prime Minister expressed his political will and said that when we see how much and what these super profits are, we will impose extraordinary taxation on them, and it will be done.
We heard from Mr. Tsipras that the PPC had a profit of 1 billion, do not you know that PPC has given discounts to its customers since September until now approaching 900 million? I say that a large part of these super profits has already been returned by PPC to its consumers. I try to explain that the opposition wants to pass on to the world the idea that there is an easy solution to get out of the global energy problem and that someone bad Mitsotakis or much worse Georgiadis because they are friends of energy providers or traders do not want to apply it. There is no easy solution, automatic today in what we live in, and we are claiming a pan-European solution because the problem today far exceeds the possibilities of a Member State. Do not give the impression to the world that everything is simple.
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