In the last days of last year, the president of PKN Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, assured that despite the refund of the VAT, drivers don’t have to worry about price increases at stations. And indeed – on January 1, 2023, not only at Orlen stations, but also at other stations that we checked, we will refuel at December 2022 rates.
And so at the Shell station in Warsaw a liter of 95 unleaded petrol costs 6.29 today, exactly like the day before. On Circle K we will pay 6.33 per liter – the price has remained the same here too. Petrol sold at the E.Leclerc supermarket in Ursynów costs PLN 6.44 per litre, both on December 31st and January 1st.
Theoretically, an increase in the VAT on fuel with the prices in force at the end of December should lead to an increase of approximately PLN 0.75. per litre. So how is it possible that we still pay the same? Analysts interviewed by Business Insider Polska in December explained that stations made excess margins at the end of the year, thus providing a safety buffer. In a word: we paid more for gas than was necessary to return the 23 percent. The VAT was no surprise. We write more about them in this article.
