Who is guilty?
A meeting was held at the Ministry of Energy on the current situation in the retail market of fuel and lubricants in Russia. “In a number of regions, the crisis persists, mainly where vertically integrated companies (VINKs) are not present,” said Deputy Minister Sergei Kudryashov.
Gas station
Responsibility for the shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel officials laid on the owners of refineries and private operators who could not adapt to the new market conditions. According to the head of the central dispatching department of the fuel and energy complex, Viktor Zyryanov, in conditions of shortage, independent gas stations were unable to establish direct contacts with fuel producers and also enter the trading exchange on time.
Among the negative factors that worked were the cessation of gasoline production that did not meet the Euro 3 environmental class and a sharp increase in fuel exports (by 20 percent compared to last year).
Earlier, the government has already used temporary leverage to saturate the market with oil products. Barrage duties on exports appeared, VINKs were instructed to increase supplies to the "starving" areas. The transition to the ecological class Euro 3 is pushed two more years ahead.
One for all
As a panacea, officials from the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economic Development propose opening the first independent refinery. The plant will be bought from one of the market players and provided with products by private operators, which, according to officials, will improve competition.
According to the director of strategic development of IAC “Cortes” Pavel Strokov, the most likely candidate for the role of an independent oil refinery is one of the assets of AFK Sistema - the Orenburg refinery Orsknefteorgsintez. The company is able to process up to 6.6 million tons of oil per year.
However, Strokov is convinced that this will not bring a radical solution to problems for private operators. “Let's answer the question, who will load this plant with oil? If, allegedly, it will be owned by the state concern Rosneftegaz, then Rosneft, which it owns, will supply oil.
In essence, Rosneft will have another asset interested in commercial profit. Then why should he trade at reduced prices, and what prevented Rosneft from doing the same job for independent operators before the crisis?
An independent oil refinery should be built rather than acquired, Dmitry Abzalov, a leading expert at the Center for Political Conjuncture of Russia, is convinced. “The purchase of an existing refinery will not solve the deficit problem. Thus, the authorities do not increase the volume of processing, but only try to break the chain at which an inadequate price arises,”the source said.
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According to Abzalov, despite the fact that the refinery will be owned by the state concern, control over it should be in the hands of private traders. It can be majors (no more than 10 percent each) - provided that no one can single-handedly manage the refinery, either the Association of Independent Oil Producers or local independent market operators.
Excise taxes should go down
To ensure that the crisis does not recur, an “honest refinery” alone is not enough, experts agreed. Market mechanisms are needed in which the production of low-cost fuel will stimulate the state. “Such leverage can be high export duties and tax discounts at high logistic costs of companies,” explains Strokov.
