Algeria, which is struggling to curb illegal fuel trafficking, points the finger at Morocco and Tunisia. That’s what a study conducted by two researchers on the subject reveals.
Facing the finance and budget committee of the National People’s Congress as part of the debate on the 2021 finance bill, Abdelmadjid Attar, Algerian Minister of Energy affirmed that the tax on the consumption of fuels (gasoline and diesel) for the next financial year “will not eliminate the smuggling phenomenon but will limit the losses it generates”. A statement that says a lot about Algeria’s inability to put an end to the illicit traffic which is losing two billion dollars to the public treasury.
Teacher-researcher Mousli Abdenadir and Professor Oukaci Kamal from the University of Béjaïa conducted a study on the subject. They discuss the reasons for this situation. It emerges from their analysis that the illicit traffic of fuels is mainly due “to the disparity in fuel prices between Algeria and the two neighboring countries, in this case Tunisia and Morocco, recipient countries of the contraband Algerian fuels. , which aligned fuel prices on the international oil market followed by the removal of subsidies in 2013 ”.
Another reason mentioned: the fuel price-fixing system in Algeria and the various distorting effects of the subsidy policy. “Fuel subsidies do not appear in the state budget since the Treasury does not pay any direct compensation to the producer (Sonatrach) and to the distributor (Naftal). They are therefore considered as a shortfall or a potential loss for the State, which sells petroleum products, in particular fuels, below their international price, ”the report indicates.
