Florina residents in border protest over cost of heating oil

Residents of Florina in northern Greece on Tuesday began a two-day protest against a rise in the cost of heating oil by blockading the customs office on the border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and shutting down shops in the city.

Local officials are demanding that cities like Florina and Kastoria, which experience harsh winters, be exempt from a recent government decision to level the tax for heating oil with that of diesel in a bid to beat tax evasion, a move which has resulted in fuel prices rising by up to 40 percent.