By KYIV. Nov 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) declares that it is impossible to assess the main indicators of the fuel market in Ukraine due to deregulation and the refusal of a number of market participants to report, warns of the risk of a repetition of a shortage like in April-May this year and proposes that the Cabinet of Ministers return state control over the circulation of light petroleum products: high-octane gasoline and diesel fuel.
"The AMCU does not yet have the final results of the study, however, given the increased demand for fuel, which at any time may lead to a repetition of the situation in April-May 2022, the AMCU decided to urgently apply to the Cabinet of Ministers," the committee said on its website.
The Committee recalled that after the spring shortage of fuel in the retail market, it launched two studies: the first is related to identifying the causes and factors that influenced the restriction of supply in the retail market for light petroleum products, and the second – with the establishment of fuel prices during 2022.
From the information received, it drew preliminary conclusions, in particular, that it was impossible to estimate the volume of fuel markets, as well as real supply and demand after the introduction of martial law in the country. The reasons are the lack of this information from the State Statistics Service since the beginning of this year, as well as its incomplete volume in the system of electronic administration on the sale of fuel and ethyl alcohol of the State Tax Service due to the possibility of not providing it under martial law.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine added that after the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of September 2020, no state agency was entrusted with the authority to compile actual and forecast balances of supply and demand for light petroleum products, and the only source of data for the state was information voluntarily sent by market participants without documentary confirmation of its reliability.
In addition, the Antimonopoly Committee pointed out that market participants violate the requirement of the Cabinet of Ministers to declare changes in retail prices, and Ukrzaliznytsia does not purchase petroleum products in the foreign market with their subsequent sale in the domestic market, as was supposed by another government decision.
In its opinion, such a mechanism as conducting actual inspections and imposing penalties is not a sufficient and effective leverage to influence market participants.
Under these conditions, the Committee suggested that the government determine a state authority and entrust it with the authority to compile and maintain actual and forecast balances of fuel supply and demand, initiate changes to the Tax Code in order to restore the presentation of data on fuel residues and the volume of fuel circulation.
The Antimonopoly Committee also announced the need to fulfill the norm of the May resolution on the appearance of fuel purchased by Ukrzaliznytsia in the free market.
The committee noted that it plans to soon present the results of a study on assessing the impact of state regulation in the form of a marginal markup and formula price and a similar pricing policy of market participants after the abolition of state regulation.
