FAS Activity Increases Threefold
Since the beginning of the year until August 17, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service of Russia has initiated 41 cases against oil companies and independent market participants, issuing 68 warnings to economic entities for potential violations of anti-monopoly legislation, the agency's press service informed "Izvestia."
As of May 21, the FAS and regional offices were examining 11 such cases against participants in the oil products market. Thus, 30 cases were initiated over the summer—almost three times more than in the first five months of the year.All cases involve violations of articles from the “On Protection of Competition” law and the Administrative Code, which prohibit cartel agreements and abuse of dominant market positions, "Izvestia" found out. Most violations have been recorded among independent companies operating gas stations in various regions, as well as two firms selling fuel under the "Gazpromneft" brand, specifically from Gazpromneft - Regional Sales LLC and two oil traders.
The anti-monopoly service began actively responding to price increases and legislative violations due to the government's close attention to this issue, noted Dmitry Gusev, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the "Reliable Partner" association. Furthermore, due to rising exchange prices for fuel and supply shortages, independent gas station owners started significantly raising prices, leading to an increase in citizen complaints to the FAS.
Sergei Tereshkin, General Director of Open Oil Market, considers the rise in warnings and anti-monopoly cases predictable after the spike in fuel prices in June: the regulator is attempting to "curb the appetites" of certain market participants and thus aid in price stabilization.
New Wave of Queues at Gas Stations
Meanwhile, in recent days, several regions have seen a new wave of fuel shortages and queues at gas stations. For instance, in Moscow, some gas stations have almost all grades of gasoline intermittently unavailable. On August 17, "Izvestia" reporters visited 21 gas stations in Moscow and the region: the 92nd grade was found at seven stations, the 95th at six, and the 98th at only five. Diesel fuel is also not universally available. The editorial office sent an inquiry to the Moscow government.
On August 14, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak held another meeting concerning the internal fuel market situation. A representative of the Ministry of Energy reported that several regions of the country are experiencing a strained situation with fuel supply at gas stations, as noted in the government's statement. Specifically, the issue of fueling the Orenburg, Lipetsk, Tver, and Oryol regions, as well as Tuva, Khakassia, Krasnodar, Zabaykalsky, Primorsky, and Krasnoyarsk Krais was raised.
According to the "GdeBENZ" app as of August 16, fuel was available at 28.1% of gas stations nationwide. A week prior, this figure stood at 41%. The availability of gasoline and diesel has decreased in Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Voronezh, Samara, Penza, Saratov, Lipetsk, Rostov regions, and in Tatarstan, as per the app's data.
The first wave of queues at gas stations in Russia emerged in late May and lasted about a month and a half. At the end of 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 of August 4 to 10, a decrease in automotive 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 highest price increase was observed in Tver Oblast, where prices rose by 6.8%.
Overall, this indicates that the fuel situation in Russia is developing unevenly: despite significant overall gasoline production, delivery to certain areas is more challenging, partly due to logistics issues, a source in the industry told "Izvestia".
The Ministry of Energy told "Izvestia" that they, together with regional authorities, other agencies, and oil companies, are taking measures to ensure the domestic market is supplied with necessary volumes of oil products.
The government has already implemented a temporary export ban on fuel, allowed for the circulation of gasoline of environmental classes Euro-2, Euro-3, and Euro-4, established an import dampening mechanism to stimulate fuel supplies to the Russian Federation, and modified exchange mechanisms.
"Izvestia" sent inquiries to the office of Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and to major oil companies.
The new wave of shortages has arisen due to ongoing attacks and unscheduled 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, particularly for gasoline.
Sergei Tereshkin believes that the absence of high-octane fuel varieties at several gas stations is a consequence of the fact that even after passing the first wave of the crisis, the market balance remained quite fragile. Logistical adjustments have stabilized fuel availability in major cities, but have not significantly affected the balance of supply and demand.
Dmitry Gusev notes that the market needs more systematic support measures. He identifies a key need for a more active transition of consumers to alternative types of engines and fuels. Additionally, logistical challenges in fuel supply still persist, the expert added.
In the near future, fuel from India is expected to arrive at Russian gas stations. A large consignment recently arrived in Murmansk but has not yet been unloaded from the tankers, a source in the industry told "Izvestia". The cost of the shipment was high, and purchasing it for resale on the domestic market could imply a loss for oil companies.
As media reports indicated, Indian AI-92 was initially offered at 130,000 rubles per ton. The price later decreased to 110,000 rubles. However, as of August 17, the territorial exchange index for AI-92 for the European part of Russia stood at approximately 73,000 rubles per ton, according to data from the St. Petersburg International Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange. Nevertheless, as the source added, acceptable unloading conditions have finally been agreed upon.
Sergei Tereshkin believes that the further development of the situation will depend on the duration of technological downtimes at refineries. In his opinion, imports from Belarus and the easing of environmental requirements will significantly impact the physical availability of fuel more than supplies from India, for which logistical and pricing mechanisms need to be adjusted to reach a significant volume.
Source: Izvestia
