Fuel rackets in the crosshairs
Greek taxpayers have paid a very heavy price for the illegal trade in fuel over the past few decades. A succession of governments announced tough measures to curb smuggling but ended up doing nothing as they yielded to the pressure of powerful groups that were making a killing from the rackets.
However, it finally looks as though this government has mustered the political will-power to establish some kind of control over the fuel market and crack down on smuggling.
The decision to level the consumption tax on heating oil with that on gasoline may have created a whole new set of problems, but it also went a long way toward curbing tax evasion from fuel sales.
Equally important was the contribution of the financial police in conducting a series of operations against illegal fuel rackets.
It was clearly this kind of determination and absence of fear in the face of pressure from rackets that was needed to put an end to such a serious problem.
