Due to rising prices, demand for gasoline and diesel fuel in Ukraine fell by 20%
Kyiv, April 28 (Navigator, Vladimir Mikhailov) – Consumption of light petroleum products in Ukraine decreased by 20%. Market experts are convinced that the government is to blame for this, not the operators.
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The average drop in consumption of light petroleum products in Ukraine in April was 20%, and for a number of operators this figure was worse. Thus, Lukoil's sales decreased by 60%. Sales of gasoline and diesel fuel in depressed areas decreased by up to 40%, while in cities with a population of over a million they fell less - to 15%. These figures were announced by the President of the Association of Petroleum Products Market Operators of Ukraine Leonid Kosyanchuk, speaking at the press conference “Why are gasoline prices not falling?”
In his opinion, the drop in demand is due to a sharp rise in prices for petroleum products, which, in turn, was caused by government actions. The main factors that caused the rise in prices were the depreciation of the hryvnia and a sharp, more than doubling, increase in the excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel.
According to the expert, the increase in the excise tax on diesel fuel from 46 to 91 euros per ton led to an increase in prices by more than 60 kopecks per liter. The instability of the hryvnia exchange rate also contributed. “We need to ask the NBU why they allowed currency speculation by banks?” says the expert.
Due to rising prices, demand for gasoline and diesel fuel in Ukraine has fallen by 20%.