The price of oil on the global market is falling. The price of petroleum products on the Mediterranean exchange, which forms the basis for fuel pricing in Serbia, is also dropping. Fuel prices at petrol stations are falling across the region, Europe, and the rest of the world. Only in Serbia are fuel prices rising.
Danas’s interlocutors explain that fuel prices in Serbia have risen over the last two weeks due to an increase in excise duties, which they point out are the highest in the region and among the highest in Europe.
The price of diesel in Serbia remained the same on Friday, 26th June, but then increased by two dinars per litre on Friday, 3rd July. Petrol became two dinars more expensive last Friday, and went up by another two dinars per litre this Friday. In plain terms, the state is now clawing back what it lost during the crisis when it was protecting drivers.
To recap, following the US-Israeli attack on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, global oil prices surged. In response, the Government of Serbia decided to reduce the fuel excise duty by 20 per cent to halt a sharp spike in prices at the pumps.
According to the law, the excise duty on unleaded petrol stands at 72 dinars per litre, and 74.04 dinars per litre on diesel. With the 20 per cent reduction, the excise duty on unleaded petrol was 57.6 dinars per litre, while the duty on diesel was 59.23 dinars per litre. At that time, the state surrendered about 15 dinars of excise duty per litre.
As oil prices continued to rise ahead of local elections in several Serbian municipalities, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that the state would slash the fuel excise duty by as much as 60 per cent, but this never materialised. Instead of 60 per cent, the duty was reduced by 25 per cent.
Following this, global oil prices stabilised, prompting the Serbian Government to revert the excise duty reduction back to 20 per cent. Following announcements and the subsequent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran, oil prices returned to pre-war levels. The Serbian Government immediately raised the excise duty by 12.5 per cent, followed by an additional 5.5 per cent.
With these latest adjustments, the excise duty on unleaded petrol stands at 68.4 dinars, and the duty on diesel is 70.34 dinars. This means that the excise duty on petrol and diesel is currently about five per cent below the legally mandated level.
Heading towards Serbia having the most expensive fuel once again
Economic consultant Bogdan Petrović explains that the primary reason for the fuel price hikes in Serbia over the past two weeks is, above all, the increase in excise duties following a reduction that lasted just over three months.
“The reason for the fuel price increase is very simple. To prevent an excessive spike in fuel costs, the state temporarily surrendered a portion of its excise duties, and now it is increasing them again,” Petrović told Danas. According to him, this very state intervention and subsequent adjustment of excise duties led to the current price growth. “The Serbian government recently decided to increase those excise duties; that is to say, the reduction is no longer as substantial as it was, but smaller. And that is why fuel has become more expensive in Serbia,” our interlocutor notes.
Petrović points out that we are now back to a situation we faced for a long series of years, which is that Serbia has the most expensive fuel.”We are now back to the situation we had for years – that fuel is the most expensive in Serbia. As long as our excise duty level remains this high, we will have the most expensive fuel, and there is no shifting that. The issue in this entire story lies exclusively in the level of the excise duty. Our excise duty is the highest in the region, and this is nothing new; we have had the most expensive fuel for years. Even when you go to Croatia, fuel has been more affordable for years back, because our excise duty is excessively high. That is the core problem,” Petrović emphasizes.
When asked when a drop in fuel prices could be expected and whether changes from the global market would spill over into Serbia, Petrović offers a pessimistic answer: “It won’t spill over to us, because the Government will simply return the excise duties to their previous levels.” He also explains that even though fuel prices in the Mediterranean have fallen, this has not led to cheaper fuel in Serbia.
“It is true that the price of fuel in the Mediterranean fell, and it should have become five to six dinars cheaper here as well. However, the Government raised the previously reduced excise duty, so instead of a price drop, we saw an increase,” Petrović says.
He cites the state of the budget, along with the Serbian Government’s obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the key reasons for the swift reinstatement of the excise duties.
“The Government rushed to increase excise duties because it has a budget deficit, but also because it promised the IMF that it would abandon the excise duty reductions as soon as possible, precisely because a budget hole was being created. A substantial amount of money is collected through excise duties, which is projected in the budget. We had an excise duty reduction of 20 to 25 per cent that lasted for three months, and the budget was quite heavily depleted because of it,” Petrović indicates.
High excise duties show the state has a serious budget problem
Goran Đukić, chairman of the Energy Committee of the Serbia Centre party (SRCE), also points out that the ruling authorities had reduced excise duties on petroleum products by 20 to 25 per cent over the previous few months, primarily due to the conflict between the US and Iran.
“It is certain that budget revenues from this item were reduced by that amount. During this brief step, the authorities attempted to present the reduction of excise duties as a massive concession to citizens, which in reality is not true, given that our citizens and businesses pay excise duties on petroleum products that are among the highest in Europe,” Đukić points out.
On the other hand, as he states, the authorities used the very first news of a stabilisation of conditions in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to quickly return excise duties to their levels prior to the oil crisis caused by the Middle East conflict.
“After that, they continued with a practice that has been customary for years, which is to increase the prices of petroleum products on a weekly basis. Consistently, just like the old saying goes: ‘Penny by penny makes a pound, grain by grain makes a loaf,'” Đukić states.
He also notes that one should certainly not lose sight of the fact that neighbouring countries without active oil refineries (such as Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia) have significantly lower prices for petroleum products. This, he emphasizes, clearly indicates that the current authorities do not care about the interests of either citizens or the economy.
(Danas, 07.07.2026)
https://www.danas.rs/vesti/ekonomija/cena-nafte-pada-a-gorivo-poskupljuje-samo-u-srbiji/