Small fuel retailers warned on Monday that the government's recent practice of capping fuel prices might soon lead to shortages, "if this thoughtless energy policy continues," adding that they had filed a complaint to the constitutional court to protect their rights.

The government on Monday confirmed its earlier caps on motor fuels from two weeks ago would continue to be in force.

Over the next seven days, the prices of Eurosuper 95 petrol and Eurodiesel will be capped at 10.72 kuna (€1.42) and 12.3 kuna (€1.63) per liter respectively.

Small distributors said that the latest government decree was again forcing them to sell fuel about 1 kuna (€0.13) cheaper than the wholesale price they are getting it for, despite the recent drop in diesel prices on the global market.

They said that such decisions contributed to destabilizing the energy market every 7-14 days, adding that these measures “are not saving anyone, they are only making it more difficult to overcome the energy crisis.”

“The situation on the energy market is delicate and very complex. The government unilaterally makes decrees to influence the market it knows very little about, and is completely unaware of the consequences of its decisions. These decisions are not only harmful to Croatians, they are also unconstitutional,” said head of he local association of small fuel distributors, Armando Miljavac.

(€1 = 7.52 kuna)