Izvestia: "The Prime Minister Exposes Oil Companies"
The government has launched a campaign against fuel price manipulation. On Thursday, it prohibited affiliated companies to enter into deals in mercantile exchange markets.
However, this measure alone is not enough to resolve the fuel issue. Soaring prices at Russian petrol stations are the result of the country's low efficiency in oil refining, experts say.
Opening a government presidium meeting, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticised Russian oil companies, saying that they have created the shortage in the market themselves.
"There is no shortage. This is not about a shortage, it's about collusion. They make agreements among themselves and provide only a small amount to the market," Mr Putin said in reply to Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin's comment that prices in commodity markets were increasing as a result of shortages.
"In order for you to be fully informed about the situation in the entire country, I'd like you to monitor the situation along with the Federal Antimonopoly Service as actively as possible, and respond promptly," the prime minister told Sechin.
A few hours earlier, Igor Sechin held a meeting of the government commission on the fuel and energy sector that focused on the ways the fuel shortage was being addressed. Petrol shortages began in the Altai Territory in late April and spread to other regions, including the Moscow Region. State-run oil companies pledged to suspend gasoline exports in May, the government increased gasoline export duties by 40% starting on May 1 and the Ministry of Energy demanded that oil companies restore the operation of oil refineries that had been closed for repairs. These measures helped remedy the situation a little, but the fuel supply remains somewhat strained. Moreover, prices have begun to surge. Prices in Moscow, for example, grew by an average 15% during the first weekend in May alone. It was for this reason that Igor Sechin was fairly judgmental in describing the situation. Russia is the world's leader in oil production, "so nationwide petroleum shortages, in principle, are impossible," he said.
"This implies misconduct in some cases. In other cases, logistical decisions have to be made. But it is impossible to deny the objective factors influencing the domestic market, such as the new situation in global commodity markets," Sechin said. "Additional measures, primarily having to do with petrol feedstock, can be implemented in case the current monitoring survey fails to bring about any improvements."
Moreover, many oil refineries fail to trade fuel on commodity exchange markets. "The underuse of exchange markets results in unreasonable prices – prices rise as exchange markets are undersupplied with fuel," the deputy prime minister pointed out.
Government officials had their share of reproof, too. The Federal Antimonopoly Service was instructed to monitor more closely all changes in prices not supported by objective reasons, and to investigate instances of conspiracy. The Federal Service for Supervision of the Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management will be more attentively supervising oil processing mechanisms, and compliance with oil refinery modernisation schedules. The Ministry of Energy will be coordinating efforts to supply gas stations with fuel.
Members of the exchange markets repudiate all allegations of price manipulation. "There is no manipulation. The exchange market is an open platform for trading. You see the goods, the volume and the price. If there are many buyers and few sellers, there is undersupply and prices will increase," Timur Khakimov, deputy president of the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange, told Izvestia. "The exchange market is a thermometer that indicates a shortage immediately. We felt a lack first in regular then premium petroleum in mid-April. By following exchange markets, one can see a problem well in advance."
By Pavel Arabov
