Novak wants measures to cut prices at fuel filling stations

MOSCOW, Sep 29 (PRIME) -- Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has ordered the government to impose immediate measures that should cut the retail prices at fuel filling stations or Russian oil companies and independent firms, the government said in a statement late on Thursday.

On September 21, the government suspended exports of gasoline and diesel fuel to stabilize the internal market. The exchange prices for gasoline fell by 10% and for diesel fuel by 15% a day after the ban, but they started growing again on Tuesday.

“Alexander Novak has ordered introduction of immediate measures for the reduction of prices for fuel at the fuel filling stations of oil companies and in the independent segment, and for making the prices at the small bulk and large bulk sectors equal taking into account the transportation costs,” the statement said.

Novak also ordered the Federal Customs Service and the Federal Tax Service to oversee compliance with the ban on exports of gasoline and diesel fuel. The border-adjacent port bases will be closed for its exports, and the fuel stored in the fuel storage tanks there will be transferred to the internal market, the government said.

The internal retail prices for fuel should contract very soon, and if the situation on the fuel market does not improve, the government will implement tough regulations similar to what it did with the market of fertilizers, according to the government.

The producers of mineral fertilizers voluntarily froze their prices in 2021, and have been forming their domestic prices in compliance with the orders of the Federal Antimonopoly Service. Right now, the fertilizer prices are fixed at the level of 2022. Also, the government earlier slapped an export quota of 6.3 million tonnes from June 1 through November 30.

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