Head of Government Discussed Situation in Liquified Gas Market with Oil Traders
Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman called an emergency meeting on August 29 to discuss the situation with prices in the liquified gas market. Heads of industry associations, in particular, President of the Ukrainian Oil & Gas Association Dmytro Kulyk, the representatives of OKKO, WOG and Glusko Ukraine retail networks as well as of Tsentrnaftogaspostach and Nadezhda companies were invited to the meeting.
Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv, the representatives of Ukrzaliznytsia, the Antimonopoly Committee,the State Regulatory Service and the State Fiscal Service were present at the meeting on behalf of relevant ministries and departments.
Following the meeting, the Head of Government acknowledged that a number of objective factors has led to an unprecedented in scale gas deficit in the domestic market and, as a consequence, to increase in its prices. One of the reasons emphasized by President of Ukrainian Oil & Gas Association Dmytro Kulyk was the significant role of the shady sector, which does not allow legal operators to make long-term fuel reserves and invest in creating the infrastructure for their storage.
The representatives of the State Fiscal Service also supported these conclusions and stressed that there is a problem, and a law is being drafted in cooperation with the Oil and Gas Association to help establish a fuel turnover and remnants system and focus the attention of regulatory authorities on the illegal market segment.
As a result of the discussions, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Kistion was instructed to ensure the efficiency of Ukrzaliznytsia’s operation, the uninterrupted customs clearance of the imported gas and its shipment to the destination addresses, and the Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Ihor Nasalyk will lead a special commission to study the reasons for the current situation in terms of concerted action. The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine will also conduct its own operative investigation of the situation; however, according to the preliminary data, the Committee has not found any collusion in the actions of players in the market of oil products.
The next meeting is scheduled for mid-September and, according to oil traders, the situation with prices for gas should begin to stabilize by this time.
