Panic buying at petrol stations in Northern Cyprus as major dealers suspends sales of fuel

There were queues in petrol station around North Cyprus on Wednesday morning after the two major petrol dealers stopped selling fuel to motorist to protest the increase in foreign currencies.

Major fuel suppliers K-Pet and Al-Pet have said it is financially unviable to sell fuel because of the weakened Turkish Lira, Yeniduzen reported.

Since the word got out, there have been reports of long queues at petrols stations as panic buying of fuel begins by motorists fearing shortages of supply.

Vice President of the Petroleum Association Ertan Fidan, said that after the increase in foreign exchange, K-Pet and Al-Pet have stopped selling fuel to petrol stations because they are losing 1.30 TL/litre in fuel sales.

Fidan told Yeniduzen that, currently, there is a serious increase in foreign exchange, and this situation has affected the fuel supply sector.

Fuel will be on sale at petrol stations while stocks last, he said. Meanwhile, discussions on the issue are continuing and the Ministry of Economy is trying to find a solution to the problem.

Gasoline Association President Levent Çağdal, on the other hand, claimed that there is an automatic pricing system in fuel, and that according to this system, which updates the fuel price according to the exchange rate every 15 days, there will be a change in prices on October 26, but the distribution companies have lost an average of 1 TL per liter without waiting for this date.

While the station officers controlled the entrance from one direction, they could not prevent the formation of four-lane queues.

Some citizens rushed to the gas station with jerry cans... It is noteworthy that especially the takeaway engine operators flocked to buy petrol.

Yeniduzen, LGC News