Ljubljana, 5 February 2026 – At its 12th (extraordinary) meeting, the Supervisory Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana was briefed on the impact of the minimum wage increase in the Republic of Slovenia on the Petrol Group’s operations.

President of the Supervisory Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana, Vesna Južna, emphasised:

The Supervisory Board approved the Petrol Group’s Business Plan for 2026 in December 2025. However, the plan did not foresee that the minimum wage in the Republic of Slovenia would increase by as much as 16% from 1 January 2026 onwards. This increase will significantly affect the Petrol Group’s operations in Slovenia, as labour costs will rise sharply; with productivity unchanged and motor fuel margins being regulated for several years and misaligned with actual conditions, the situation has become unsustainable. To ensure the fulfilment of the business plan, Petrol has adopted additional measures to rationalise and optimise its operations.

At the extraordinary meeting, the Supervisory Board was briefed on the measures proposed by the company’s Management Board, which will apply to the operations in the Republic of Slovenia until business conditions materially change or improve.

Namely, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia continues to ignore all recommendations of the Price Control Council, which maintains that there are no grounds for regulating motor fuel prices, yet the government still keeps the regulation of motor fuel prices in place. The Republic of Slovenia remains the only EU country, alongside Belgium, that still regulates fuel margins; however, the margin in Belgium is set at 29.3 cents per litre of diesel.

Moreover, the Republic of Slovenia does not reimburse fuel retailers for the full cost of biofuel blending, despite this cost being mandated by the state and among the highest in the EU. Consequently, the effective gross margin of fuel retailers in the Republic of Slovenia stands at merely around 7.9 cents per litre of fuel, while the state takes more than 81 cents from every litre of diesel sold. The gross margin does not include logistics costs, labour costs, service station operating costs, and other similar expenses.

We would like to highlight that fuel retailers in the Republic of Slovenia have operated under regulated margins since March 2022 — for almost four years. During this same period, the minimum wage in Slovenia has increased by 39%. Within the Petrol Group, labour costs and labour‑related service costs (including transport, cleaning, security, and similar services) account for as much as 40% of our total cost structure. As a result, the profitability of our operations in Slovenia has been steadily declining for several years. To ensure the continued functioning of a wide and reliable network of service stations across the country, it is essential that appropriate measures be taken. The most important and urgent of these is the deregulation of fuel margins.

We are aware that the adopted measures will significantly affect Petrol’s current operations, as the company will comprehensively optimise all business processes, areas, and job positions, as well as limit all costs (marketing, sponsorships, donations, and similar), and redefine operating standards, perform essential maintenance works, and continue to direct its strategic investments primarily outside the Republic of Slovenia.

The Supervisory Board was also informed of the Management Board’s initiative to relocate part of Petrol’s central strategic development functions to Croatia due to its more favourable business environment.

In other markets, the Petrol Group’s investments will continue as planned—or will be accelerated and expanded—since the return on operations in some foreign markets already exceeds that achieved in the Republic of Slovenia.