FAS Activity Increased Threefold
The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia has initiated 41 cases against oil companies and independent market participants from the beginning of the year until August 17, issuing 68 warnings to economic entities for violations of antimonopoly legislation, the agency's press service reported to Izvestia.
As of May 21, the FAS and regional authorities were considering 11 such cases against participants in the oil products market. Thus, 30 cases were initiated during the summer months, nearly three times more than in the first five months of the year.All cases pertain to violations of the articles of the Law on Protection of Competition and the Administrative Code that prohibit the establishment of cartel agreements and abuse of dominant market positions, Izvestia found. Most violations have been recorded among independent companies owning gas stations in various regions, as well as two firms selling fuel under the "Gazpromneft" brand, including LLC "Gazpromneft - Regional Sales" and two oil traders.
The antimonopoly service began actively responding to price increases and legislation violations due to the government's increased attention to this issue, noted Dmitry Gusev, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Reliable Partner Association. Moreover, due to rising exchange prices for fuel and supply shortages, independent gas station owners have started significantly raising prices, resulting in an increased number of citizen complaints to the FAS.
Sergey Tereshkin, General Director of Open Oil Market, believes that the rise in the number of warnings and antimonopoly cases was predictable after the spike in fuel prices in June: the regulator is attempting to "curb the appetites" of several market participants and thereby assist in price stabilization.
New Wave of Queues at Gas Stations
Meanwhile, in recent days, several regions have experienced a new wave of fuel shortages and queues at gas stations. For instance, in Moscow, some gas stations have periodically had practically none of the different grades of petrol available. On August 17, Izvestia correspondents visited 21 gas stations in Moscow and the surrounding area: the 92nd grade was found at seven stations, the 95th at six, and the 98th at just five. Even diesel fuel is not available everywhere. The editorial team sent a request to the Moscow government.
On August 14, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak held another meeting regarding the situation in the internal fuel market. A representative from the Ministry of Energy reported that the fuel supply situation at gas stations remains tense in several regions of the country, as noted in the government’s statement. In particular, the issue of fuel supply for the Orenburg, Lipetsk, Tver, and Oryol regions, as well as Tuva, Khakassia, Krasnodar, Zabaykalsky, Primorsky, and Krasnoyarsk territories was raised.
According to the "GdeBENZ" app as of August 16, fuel was available at 28.1% of gas stations nationwide. This figure was 41% just a week ago. Availability of petrol and diesel has decreased in Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Voronezh, Samara, Penza, Saratov, Lipetsk, Rostov regions, and Tatarstan, according to the app data.
The first wave of queues at gas stations in Russia began in late May and lasted for about one and a half months. In late July, Deputy Prime Minister Novak stated that the fuel balance and situation at gas stations in Russia had improved.
According to Rosstat, during the week from August 4 to 10, a decrease in gasoline prices was recorded in 44 regions of the Russian Federation, most notably in the Republic of Dagestan (-9.1%). In Moscow, prices decreased by 0.2%. The largest price increase was observed in Tver region — by 6.8%.
Overall, this indicates that the fuel situation in Russia is developing unevenly: despite significant overall gasoline production levels, logistics issues make it more difficult to deliver fuel to certain regions, a source in the industry told Izvestia.
The Ministry of Energy informed Izvestia that it is taking measures, in conjunction with regional authorities, other departments, and oil companies, to ensure the necessary volumes of petroleum products for the domestic market.
The government has already imposed a temporary ban on fuel exports, allowed the circulation of Euro-2, Euro-3, and Euro-4 class gasoline, established an import damping mechanism to stimulate fuel supplies to Russia, and altered exchange mechanisms.
Izvestia has sent inquiries to the office of Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and to the largest oil companies.
The new wave of shortages has arisen due to ongoing attacks and emergency repairs at oil refineries, explained Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund. Additionally, August is traditionally characterized by peak demand in the domestic market, especially for gasoline.
Sergey Tereshkin believes that the absence of high-octane fuel grades at several gas stations is a consequence of the market balance remaining quite fragile even after the first wave of the crisis has passed. The reconfiguration of logistics has managed to stabilize fuel availability in major cities, but it has not significantly affected the balance of supply and demand.
Dmitry Gusev notes that the market needs more systemic support measures. He considers the key need to be a more active transition of consumers to alternative types of engines and fuels. Logistics challenges with fuel supplies are also still an issue, the expert added.
In the near future, Indian fuel is expected to arrive at Russian gas stations. A large shipment arrived in Murmansk a few days ago but has not yet been unloaded from tankers, a source in the industry told Izvestia. The cost of the shipment was high, and its purchase for resale in the domestic market could mean selling at a loss for oil companies.
As reported by the media, Indian AI-92 was initially priced at 130,000 rubles per ton. Later, the price dropped to 110,000 rubles. As of August 17, the regional exchange index for AI-92 in the European part of Russia was approximately 73,000 rubles per ton, according to data from the St. Petersburg International Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange. However, the source added that acceptable unloading conditions have been agreed upon.
Sergey Tereshkin believes that the further development of the situation will depend on the duration of technological downtimes at refineries. Moreover, he is of the opinion that imports from Belarus and the easing of environmental requirements will have a more significant impact on the physical availability of fuel than supplies from India, which require further adjustments to logistics and pricing mechanisms to reach a significant level.
Source: Izvestia
