Regular petrol and diesel at service stations off the Slovenian motorway network are considerably cheaper starting from 5 December after the government lowered excise duties and margins on the top selling fuels.

The price of petrol was marked down by 8.7 cents to €1.421 per litre, and diesel is now 8.3 cents cheaper, at €1.461. The new prices apply until 18 December.

Petrol is cheaper than in Croatia, while diesel is costlier in Slovenia. Regulated prices there were cut by a cent to €1.43 per litre of regular petrol and by two cents to €1.44 for diesel. Fuel is more expensive in other neighbouring countries.

The Slovenian government cut the excise duty by 7% or 3 cents per litre to 46.051 cents for petrol and 39.267 cents for diesel.

Retail margins were reduced by 30% or 3 cents to 6.94 cents for petrol and 6.83 cents for diesel in what the government said was part of the efforts to drive down inflation.

In response, Slovenia's largest fuel retailer Petrol turned to the Constitutional Court, asking it to suspend the latest reduction in the maximum permitted margin on fuels.

The company called the cut disproportionate. "Such margin neither reflects the real market conditions nor allows for business viability, especially in less densely populated areas."

It cited European Commission data showing that the margins on regular petrol and diesel fuel currently in place in Slovenia are nearly 45.1% and 39.5% of the EU average, respectively.

It said such low margin "forces us to reduce the funds available for investments in the green transition". Such a fallout was also indicated by MOL, the Hungarian energy company.

Retailers selling fuel along motorways and expressways are free to set their prices.

Calculations by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy show that regular petrol would have cost €1.532 and diesel €1.585 per litre if prices had not been regulated and excise duties not cut.

The ministry expects the pricing model to continue to be based on the oil price trends on the global markets and the dollar-euro exchange rate. The prices are calculated on the basis of 14-day averages of mineral oil products.