Sawt Falasteen - Germans head to Polish pumps as oil price bites

As of Wednesday, a litre of Super E10 petrol cost 2.01 euros ($2.30) and a litre of diesel 2.13 euros, according to the German Motorists' Association ADAC -- up about 15 and 24 percent on February levels.

Though Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said Wednesday that the government would limit petrol stations to raising prices a maximum of once per day, some bargain-hunting Germans told AFP they were taking no chances.

"I need to do a lot of driving next week and petrol is cheaper here," said Joerg, a 50-year-old man who works in insurance and did not want to give his second name.

Planning to cross Germany to visit his sister in Stuttgart, he had for the first time crossed into the west Polish town of Slubice from his east German hometown of Frankfurt an der Oder with the intention of filling up his tank.

"I would have preferred to spend the money over there, rather than here," he told AFP whilst filling his grey Opel Tigra at the pumps. "But you have to look after yourself."

Selling diesel at just 7.73 zlotys (1.81 euros), Joerg's newly preferred petrol station can afford the lower prices thanks to the lower rates of VAT and fuel duty charged by the Polish government.

That has only added to the sense that Germany's faltering government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz -- elected last year with the self-declared missions of reviving the economy and tackling the insurgent far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) -- is remote from the concerns of people like Joerg.

"I think that it can't go on like this forever," Joerg said of price rises at the pumps. "There's already a great deal of discontent."

- 'Why does it work here but not in Germany?' -

Industrial mechanic Melanie Adam, 33, told AFP her monthly trip from Berlin to Slubice for cheaper fuel and cigarettes was paying off now more than ever.

"It's just easier for all Germans to pop over here, fill up, than to do it over there," she said, adding that the government should lower environmental taxes.

"It works in Poland," she said. "Why does it work here but not in Germany? That's the question."

Faced with mounting public anger, a Ministry of Finance spokeswoman said Friday the government was not profiting from price rises at the pumps, pointing out that VAT was the only tax whose takings rose with the fuel price.

But criticism in car-mad Germany has only grown and politicians have spotted an opportunity to pitch their man-of-the-people credentials, calling on the government to do more for drivers.

"In my view, it's not enough simply to say that you're only allowed to raise the price once a day, because then they'll just raise it by a larger amount", Markus Soeder, head of Merz's Bavarian CSU sister party, told broadcasters RTL and ntv.

More should be done "to tackle potential price gouging", he added.

Joerg agreed, telling AFP the government should do more for drivers.

"We should try to help ourselves as long as the war is on," he said, adding that things could nevertheless be worse.

"I'm happy to live here," he said. "Because I can get to Poland. Not everyone knows about that."

Z.Ramadan--SF-PST