Economy Minister Davor Filipovic said on Friday a marked drop in diesel prices could be expected next week.

As for petrol, it will either stay at the current price or drop slightly, depending on today’s trading on the Mediterranean market, he said in Opatija, where he attended a conference called “Kvarner as an energy hub – LNG, the future of gas and transition to hydrogen”.

Asked if the energy crisis was nearing the end, Filipovic said that as long as the Russian aggression on Ukraine lasted, one could not say the crisis was over or that there would be no more disruptions in fuel, gas and electricity prices.

As for gas prices, he said that after it was decided at European level to cap it at €180 per megawatt hour, the price yesterday was around €40/MWh and that some projections put it between 40 and 50 euros for the whole year.

Speaking of the government’s cap on electricity prices, Filipovic said that only in Budapest were they lower than in Zagreb, and that the government would continue to protect households and enterprises “so that the economy can move forward.”

As for a website showing price trends, he said that now it showed prices in ten retail chains, not just three. Asked if there was a mechanism that could force the other seven retailers to join this project, he said there was not and that there were no sanctions either, but reiterated that it was in their interest to be transparent and retain consumers’ confidence.

The website has had 440,000 visits to date, he added.