MOSCOW, October 6 Gray fuel exports from Russia will reach several million tons in 2023, Alexander, deputy general director of the Institute of National Energy, an expert at the InfoTEK analytical center, shared his assessment Frolov.
According to him, gray exports arose and expanded in conditions when, on the one hand, exchange and wholesale prices for fuel were rising, but on the other hand, there was an agreement between the government and oil companies to curb retail prices. As a result, at some point it became almost impossible to sell fuel on the domestic market if gas stations were not prepared to operate at a loss, he notes.
“Some independent gas stations raised prices, some suspended sales, and the owners of some decided that since they couldn’t make money on the domestic market, they could make money on the foreign market. The export flow has increased. The estimate of “several million tons” sounds correct enough to use,” — said Frolov.
The head of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Shulginov, said in an interview in September that he estimates the volume of gray fuel exports from Russia since the beginning of the year to be several million tons. After this, a number of measures were taken to limit gray exports, and as a result, from September 21, all fuel exports were banned. At the same time, the government promised to prepare systemic measures for the market.
The Russian government on Friday took a number of systemic measures to stabilize the situation on the fuel market. Among them are a return to damper payments in full from October 1, lifting the ban on the export of diesel fuel through pipelines for those who supply at least 50% to the domestic market. Also, to prevent gray exports, a protective export duty is being introduced for non-fuel producers; it will amount to 50 thousand rubles per ton. In addition, the standards for mandatory sales of AI-95 gasoline and diesel fuel on the stock exchange have been increased to 15% and 12.5%, respectively.
«The measures taken do not hit the main reason that made gray exports problematic. But they are quite adequate to combat it: a protective duty may well work. But strengthening the ruble would help cope with this problem no less effectively,» believes agency interlocutor.