Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Germans turn to crime to combat high petrol prices

The high price of petrol is leading more and more Germans to engage in illegal activities in order to keep their tanks full without going bankrupt, an article published in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper said.

Published: 4 March 2012 12:15 CET
Germans turn to crime to combat high petrol prices
Photo: DPA

The paper reported an incident in Düren, a Rhineland town between Aachen and Cologne where several people filled up at an illegal station.

The station’s supplier was a 60-year-old worker from a nearby construction company who siphoned off thousands of litres of diesel fuel from his company’s reserve tanks.

Police said the fuel was selling for well below one euro per litre at the “station.”

On Thursday German auto club ADAC said February was the most expensive month in German history for petrol prices, with average costs for Super E10 at €1.59 per litre, or 5.1 cents higher than in January. Prices have since gone up further.

Authorities said it wasn’t just people with a criminal record who stopped to fill up, but families and customers of the firm.

The scheme, which was uncovered in December, wasn’t the only one in Düren. A worker at an agricultural cooperative in town was charging 75 cents per litre for diesel fuel he siphoned off from his employer.

Many local people also took advantage of this, the newspaper wrote, saying some 41,000 litres were sold by the 43-year-old worker before he was detected by a security camera.

Now that both schemes have been uncovered, drivers in Düren have to pay what everybody else in the country does, the paper wrote. Those prices are running at over €1.54 per litre for diesel and €1.65 for super.

The Local/mw

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

ECONOMY

German economy rebounds from recession, but growth stays weak

The German economy grew only very slightly between January and March, official figures published Tuesday showed, dodging a recession after a weak end to 2023.

Published: 30 April 2024 12:34 CEST
German economy rebounds from recession, but growth stays weak

Output rose by 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2024 in comparison with the previous three months, federal statistics agency Destatis said in preliminary figures.

By contrast, Europe’s largest economy shrank 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a revised figure out from Destatis. That revised figure was worse than its previous estimate that GDP fell by 0.3 percent in the quarter.

The statistics agency however upgraded its estimate for the whole of 2023, suggesting the German economy contracted only 0.2 percent over the year instead of 0.3 percent.

The increase in the first quarter of 2024 reflected an improvement in the construction industry and in exports, Destatis said. Household consumption however fell in the quarter, according to the agency.

The economic mood in Germany has been pessimistic in recent months, as businesses have had to manage increased energy costs, high inflation and rising interest rates. But with the costs for energy coming down and inflation easing, the outlook has improved. The government last week adjusted up its forecasts for 2024, predicting growth of 0.3 percent instead of 0.2 percent.

The first quarter improvement showed “the German economy can still grow after all”, ING bank analyst Carsten Brzeski said. “Optimism has returned to the German economy.” 

The rebound would however be limited by “structural weaknesses”, Brzeski said.

“Higher oil prices as a result of the military conflict between Iran and Israel, as well as the ongoing tensions in the Red Sea, are likely to weigh on industry and exports once again,” he said.

An increasing number of insolvencies could also weaken the labour market, Brzeski warned.

Unemployment in Germany however remained stable, according to figures published by the federal employment agency on Tuesday. The joblessness rate stood at 5.9 percent in April, the BA federal labour agency said.

READ ALSO: Can Germany revive its struggling economy?

SHOW COMMENTS