Mishustin: Domestic fuel market remains priority, further government decisions should depend on its saturation

MOSCOW. Oct 9 (Interfax) - Providing Russian consumers with gasoline remains the priority in resolving the issue its price stability; the government must take further measures depending on the saturation of the domestic market, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a government meeting on Monday.

"It is very important for you personally and for the Ministry of Energy to control the situation, especially with regard to pricing. It is absolutely obvious that the priority must be the supply to Russian consumers. All further steps taken will depend on the saturation of our domestic market at reasonable prices," he said Mishustin.

As reported, the Russian government announced new measures on Friday to stabilize the domestic petroleum products market. These included the removal of restrictions on exports of diesel fuel delivered to seaports by pipeline, provided the manufacturer supplies at least 50% of the diesel fuel it produces to the domestic market.

To prevent possible "gray" exports once current restrictions are lifted, there is now a protective duty on petroleum products of 50,000 rubles per tonne for suppliers of petroleum products who do not produce them, but purchase them on the market for resale.

In addition, the Tax Code was amended and the fuel damper restored as of October 1. "Changing the damper coefficient from 0.5 to 1.0 will allow for an increase in the amount of compensation to oil refineries for lost income when selling motor fuel on the domestic market. This will provide economic incentives to saturate the domestic market with fuel and restrain the growth of wholesale exchange prices, which as a result, will contribute to retail price stability at a level close to inflation," the press release says.

The requirements for oil companies with regard to selling diesel fuel and class 5 gasoline via the exchange have also been adjusted. Gasoline sales norms were increased from 13% to 15% of production, and diesel from 9.5% to 12.5%.

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