Ljubljana - The newspaper Finance reports that Slovenian hauliers are getting cheaper diesel at Petrol pumps along motorways compared to the prices others are paying, as they have commercial agreements with Petrol under which diesel costs the same as outside Slovenia's motorways. Business chambers have confirmed this for the paper.

The news comes after Infrastructure Minister Bojan Kumer said at the end of June that there will be no such different prices for Slovenian hauliers and all the others.

It was confirmed for Finance by the transport section of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) and the haulier arm of the OZS small business chamber.

"Slovenian hauliers have the same prices at Petrol pumps [on motorways] as they do outside motorways. The haulier must be a client of Petrol and have a contract with the company," Robert Sever, the head of the GZS transport association, told Finance, adding this was the agreement of the government. "I was informed about this by Kumer," he was quoted as saying by the paper on Tuesday.

Peter Pišek, the OZS representative of hauliers, noted that this agreement did not apply to foreign hauliers, so at the moment they were paying nearly 2 euros per litre of diesel at Petrol pumps along motorways.

Hungary also has double prices in place - they are lower for Hungarians, Slovenians and Croatians, that is for vehicles with plates from these countries.

The European Commission has been critical of this departure from single market rules, with Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton calling on Hungary to immediately stop charging most foreigners or foreign hauliers the higher prices.

"It's a bit of a mess now, Petrol has made a deal with each Slovenian haulier individually. These are commercial agreements," Pišek told Finance, adding that since none of the hauliers were angry at the moment, they all seem to have their own arrangements in place.

"As a haulier, I pay EUR 1.808 per litre of diesel on motorways. This is the price including 22% VAT, which hauliers, if they are a taxable person, deduct later. So the final price is around EUR 1.48 per litre," he said.

Finance awaits comments by the Economy Ministry and Petrol, whereas the Infrastructure Ministry declined to comment.

Another energy company, OMV Slovenija, said they had their own agreements with their business partners. Since these deals are a business secret, they did not comment.

At Petrol service stations along motorways and expressways, a litre of diesel currently costs EUR 1.975 and regular EUR 1.901.

In late June the government adopted regulations to temporarily waive energy efficiency and renewable energy contributions for diesel sold along motorways in a bid to reduce its price.

When the regulations entered into force, the price of diesel along motorways was set at EUR 1.895 by Petrol, but it is now much higher even though the prices of off-motorway fuels have fallen slightly under a new regulation regime.