Slovenia has expanded its fuel price regulation to include motorway service stations, making it one of the few European countries to regulate motor fuel prices nationwide. Until recently, price caps only applied to fuel sold off motorways. However, on 12 June, Deputy Prime Minister Matej Arčon announced that, going forward, the same regulated rates will apply across all service stations, including those on highways. The government’s declared aim is to protect consumers by keeping prices uniformly low for essential travel.
This policy shift followed strong opposition from fuel retailers who warned that extending controls to motorway stations would threaten their core business and undermine financing for the country’s green transition. Despite those concerns, the government decided to maintain existing profit margins intact while broadening the scope of regulation, guided by an analysis from the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy. Under the new decree, prices for standard petrol, diesel, and heating oil will be recalculated every two weeks according to global oil prices and the euro–dollar exchange rate. Retailers are guaranteed a maximum allowable margin and compensation for including biofuels in their products.
The decree took effect at the start of the pricing period on 17 June and will remain in force for six months. For example, maximum margins per litre have been fixed at approximately €0.0994 for unleaded petrol and €0.0983 for diesel. The government’s rationale is to eliminate the long-standing price disparity between highway and off-highway stations—motorway fuel costs were previously around 17% higher—and to dampen inflationary pressures, which stood at 1.8% year-on-year in May.
Slovenia first introduced price caps on off-motorway fuel outlets in March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This measure was then reauthorized by the current government, which opted to liberalize motorway fuel prices in June of that year. Advocates of the policy now argue that a small market of a few dominant players created an effective oligopoly, justifying continued government intervention.
However, fuel retailers remain critical. Major companies such as Slovene-owned Petrol and Hungarian-owned MOL are pursuing legal action, claiming they lost millions in revenue and pointing out that their net profit margin is only about 7% of the consumer price—while taxes make up roughly 60% of the total. They warn that sustained regulation, combined with heavy taxation, threatens their ability to stay afloat, invest in greener alternatives, and support community initiatives.
