A truly unique achievement is about to be marked by the ruling GERB party and it will remain forever in the economic history of Bulgaria. With the change in a single legislative act they will shut down almost all small traders of fuels in the country, thus clearing the ground for large gas stations, and ensuring solid revenues from a few companies of the technological industry.
At the beginning of the week the National Revenue Agency (NRA) published on its website a press release showing that a total of nearly 2,000 out of about 3,200 stations in the country still have not taken anything to place a level measuring system for their fuel tanks. If they do not do so until the end of the year it is almost certain that they will miss the deadline for connecting their fiscal systems to the sensors of the fuel pumps and tank level gauges, which is the end of March 2012. That means a fine of up to BGN10,000 and closing of each station where the requirement is not fulfilled, representatives of the NRA said.
Actually the level measuring system is the last (so far) in the series of requirements for fuel retailers. With changes in tax laws since the beginning of 2011 all the stations were required to report electronically their turnovers to the NRA. In June, what was further introduced to the existing financial information was for them to report on the exact amounts of petrol and diesel sold and available in the tanks. But this apparently was not enough for the Finance Ministry and new adjustments to the VAT Act were voted in late February according to which traders now have to install the level gauges, which will allow tax authorities to monitor the real quantities of fuel during passing through the fuel pumps and those present in the petrol and gas tanks.
According to Deputy Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov connecting the fuel pumps with the information system of the NRA will cover, at least in principle, the whole movement of fuel in Bulgaria, and thus allow a very precise analysis of the risk of abuse or attempted fraud in retail. However, the problem appears to be the price of this level measuring system. According to the Treasury, the installation of the most popular one – Veeder Root – at a gas station with four tanks, need about EUR10,000. There are cheaper ones, but they still cost around EUR7,000 or EUR8,000. Indeed, this amount will not obstruct the big players in the oil business such as Lukoil, Petrol or Shell. But this is not the situation with the owners of one or two stations located on the far less traffic loaded roads, which logically reflects on their turnovers.
We are not against the level measuring system, but we can’t afford it, said Dinko Dedevo, owner of a filling station in Stara Zagora and a representative of the Association of Traders at Small and Medium Filling Stations, which is to be set up by the end of the month. On December 13, the still unborn organization gathered dozens of owners from Southern Bulgaria and Sofia on a peaceful protest in Stara Zagora.
Since the beginning of 2011 sites for retail in liquid fuels were required by law to report electronically their turnovers to the NRA. It cost to each owner between BGN1,000 and BGN4,000. We did it. Now we are forced to install level measuring devices, but prices are petrifying. About two weeks ago we learned that the cost for each system is between BGN15,000 and BGN20,000, and subscription maintenance comes to about BGN100-150 per month. Apart from that, we will lose additional BGN4,500 due to the suspension of our work during the installation and due to additional transport costs, design, calibration, etc. representatives of the association said.
Owners of small stations are convinced that lobbying and corruption are hidden behind the requirement for installation of level gauges. Their distributors and companies that will install them will allegedly cash in more than BGN30 million from this operation. Grounds for such suspicions lie in the fact that the move on behalf of NRA came after a meeting with the Bulgarian Institute of Metrology, Bulgarian Oil and Gas Association, the manufacturers of POS systems, as well as service and professional organizations, that is – the companies that have the greatest economic interest of the introduction of level gauges.
The deadline for connecting cash registers of all merchants and NRA is March 31, 2012. If the rate of implementation so far is preserved, this would mean that about 50,000 small traders in the country will have no physical time to implement the requirement. There will be no compromises and no delay will be tolerated, said Executive Director of the Revenue Agency, Krassimir Stefanov. And if that is true, is yet to be seen. Owners of small stations have already sent a protest statement to the budget committee at the National Assembly, to the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov.
It is worth mentioning that even in the discussion in Parliament on the introduction of level gauges socialist MP Rumen Ovcharov warned that the measures prescribed by GERB actually clear the way for several major distributors of petroleum products in the country and deliberately destroy all small business that deal with fuel. An unplanned expense of EUR10,000 in times of crisis imposed to a small company is not that small a measure. Half of the small stations will be opened and more, said back then Mr. Ovcharov.
The saddest thing in the whole situation is that the state has a much easier way to control the fuel market. And it is only by monitoring the only manufacturer in the country – Lukoil Neftochim Burgas plus the tax warehouses of importers to the country. Task, which, despite all struggles, proved impossible for the rulers in 2011.
