Deputy PM says Russian fuel prices not to soar in January

MOSCOW, Dec 18 (PRIME) – There will be no galloping fuel inflation in Russia in January, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told reporters on Tuesday.

“We do not expect – thanks to the measures taken by the government of the Russian Federation to hold down the prices in the framework of the tax maneuver and thanks to the agreement with the oil companies – we do not expect a galloping engine fuel price rise,” Kozak said.

The Russian government has started to analyze claims by transport companies that fuel prices started to rise despite state prohibition, Kozak said.

On October 31, the government signed a price stabilization agreement with oil producers fixing the prices at the level of the end of May or early June until the end of 2018 and a later growth in line with annual inflation seen at 4–4.6%. The agreement will remain in force until March 31.

But Kommersant business daily reported that retailers have warned that food prices in the country may grow because of a higher cost of fuel for transportation companies.

“We hear that, we are analyzing it. We have market mechanisms of fuel pricing, commercial deals between the companies and producers of oil products, but we have set the goal for the federal executive authorities to make these threats not empty but based on facts,” Kozak said.

“To analyze, how much transportation accounts for in the structure of the products, and for how much fuel accounts for in transportation to understand whether these worries have something behind them or not.”

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