A fire at the Hungarian oil refinery of MOL, as well as incidents at oil refineries in Slovakia and Romania against the backdrop of restrictions on fuel supplies to Ukraine from some countries, have led to fuel shortages and the cessation of operations at several Ukrainian gas stations. This was stated in a comment to UNIAN by Dmitry Leushkin, founder of the Prime group of companies and fuel expert.
He noted that there is currently no fuel crisis in Ukraine, but traders he spoke with believe that the likelihood of one occurring is high. However, it will not be a repeat of the situation in 2022.
"Today we have a storm in the market. Prices have skyrocketed. If at the beginning of the week the price of diesel in Izmail was 44 hryvnias/liter, today it is already 46. Plus 5% in three days. And this is without taking into account the rise in oil prices, - UNIAN). With such steps, we will reach a wholesale price of 50 hryvnias per liter (approximately 1 euro, ed.) and will talk about increasing the prices at gas stations, - UNIAN), if suddenly something does not change, some ships do not arrive with fuel," the expert noted, adding that the price of diesel fuel at gas stations, in the event of an increase in the wholesale price of diesel fuel, could rise by up to 3 hryvnias/liter, depending on the network.
Also, according to him, prices for gasoline will rise as well.
At the same time, he notes that customers are being asked to pay for fuel that is not yet available from the wholesale seller. Dmitry Leushkin adds that some gas stations have already ceased operations. The expert states:
"I spoke today with the owner of the 'OVIS' network in Kharkiv region. Four gas stations are already standing without fuel. The situation is threatening."
He added that in 2-3 weeks, if nothing is done, "gas stations will start to stop."
Dmitry Leushkin explained that Ukraine imports fuel from both Hungary and Slovakia, where affected oil refineries are located, as well as from Romania. He adds that the situation with fuel supplies to the domestic market is complicated by the restrictions imposed by Ukraine on fuel imports from Bulgaria and Moldova. The restrictions on supplies from the port of Constanta, which were not officially announced, have also had a negative impact; however, according to the consulting company A-95, diesel imports to Ukraine from Romania sharply fell at the beginning of October.
Dmitry Leushkin adds that the introduction of new American sanctions against Russian oil giants "Lukoil" and "Rosneft" complicates the situation, as a significant number of companies are trying to avoid cooperation with legal entities that have been sanctioned by the U.S. due to the risk of falling under secondary sanctions. At the same time, as is known, the Ukrainian market still depends on gasoline and diesel produced from Russian oil and supplied from other countries.
"I support imposing sanctions against Russia, but now there is no fuel," the expert noted, adding that a fuel reserve should have been planned for such a case.
Moreover, according to Dmitry Leushkin, the logistics of fuel have been complicated due to military actions. The expert stated:
"We do not have the opportunity to resolve the crisis as we did in 2022... Where to go? Bulgaria is under sanctions, Romania is under sanctions, Moldova is under sanctions, Poland and Lithuania we have already chosen, as well as Greece. No resources are expected in Hungary and Slovakia for now... You can't just send fuel trucks to Turkey. Again, some productions there are under sanctions."
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