Beginning on the morning of Tuesday February 23rd, petrol dealers across the island of Cyprus will begin an indefinite strike in protest over a government cap on petrol prices announced earlier today.

The following is from a Reuters news feed...

Cyprus caps fuel prices, dealers to strike

Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:27pm GMT

NICOSIA, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Petrol dealers in Cyprus declared an indefinite strike on Monday after authorities imposed a ceiling on the retail price of fuel in a showdown over rates at the pumps.

It is the first time authorities have invoked a law which allows them to set a maximum retail price on fuel. In response, private petrol dealers, who run the majority of stations on the island, said they would shut the pumps on Tuesday morning.

"A decree was issued this morning for three types of fuels," Commerce and Industry Minister Antonis Paschalides told reporters. It followed complaints from the energy service, a unit of his ministry, that prices were excessively high.

The decree would be valid for eight days, Paschalides said.

But petrol dealers, who said they were not consulted, said some 280 stations would shut down on Tuesday morning. "The decision will be valid until the minister decides to repeal the decree, and from which we are aware is in effect for eight days," said Stephanos Stephanou, head of the dealers' association.

The prices set by the ministry were not viable for stations to operate, Stephanou said.

Most petrol stations in Cyprus operate under a licencing system from companies to individual dealers.

Thirty directly belong to two companies - the Cyprus unit of Greece's Hellenic Petroleum (HEPr.AT: Quote) owns 20 and the Cyprus branch of Russia's Lukoil (LKOH.MM: Quote) has 10. Those stations were not included in the dealers' decision to take strike action, Stephanou said.

Fuel prices in Cyprus are not regulated, but are closely monitored by authorities. The island's energy service had reported last week that retail prices were disproportionately higher on the basis of import prices in early February.

(Reporting by Sarah Ktisti, Editing by William Hardy)