Bureau warns to take “measures” against fuel stations

Addis Abeba Trade Bureau has warned to take “strict measures” against the fuel stations that are creating fuel shortages in town.

Adem Nuri, Head of the Bureau said Thursday that there are problems of distribution of fuel in some stations. “Measures will be taken against fuel stations which are aggravating shortages to garner illegal profit,” he said without explaining details about planned measures.

After the government announced a measure to lift a subsidy on imported fuel starting from April 8, a possibility of fuel shortage looms large in Addis Abeba.

City’s administration claims the opposite.

“The government has been importing fuel in significant foreign currency and there’ll be no supply shortage problems,” Adem said.

He added: “The problem is mainly associated with a deliberate distribution challenges created by the stations”.

The Trade Bureau held discussion with fuel station owners on Thursday. City’s Trade Bureau and owners of fuel stations agreed to scale-up amount of fuel to be sold and report their sells to the Bureau using modern technologies, according to a statement obtained from the Bureau.

Currently, there are 117 active fuel stations from 134 stations in the capital. “Relevant measure has been taken against three stations, which traded fuels in barrels,” said Adem.