Experts supplemented (corrected) the remark of the Governor of Sevastopol on gasoline prices

CrimeaPRESS reports:

Everything rises in price, why be surprised at the price of gasoline?

Rosstat last week published fresh statistics on the cost of automotive fuel — the price increase for the first week of August amounted to 34 kopecks. Since the beginning of the year, the average cost of gasoline in Russia has increased by three rubles, and the price of diesel fuel has grown even more over the year. Edition AUTO RU talked to fuel market experts and found out why gasoline is getting more expensive and when the price increase will stop. Material — as a continuation answers Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev to questions about gasoline prices.

How has the price of fuel increased over the years?

According to the Rosstat report, available at site organization, the average consumer cost of a liter of gasoline in August 2022 was 50.71 rubles. The average price per liter of diesel fuel is 54.68 rubles. Throughout the past year, fuel prices in Russia remained almost unchanged — there were no serious fluctuations on the stock exchange, so price lists at gas stations remained stable until this summer.

Experts began to actively talk about the rise in fuel prices in June, fixing first an increase in wholesale prices, and then retail prices. Price hike continued in July and August. By latest data Rosstat in the middle of the last month of the summer of 2023, the average consumer price of a liter of gasoline in the country was 53.69 rubles. The retail price of a liter of diesel fuel is 58.90 rubles. Thus, in exactly one year, gasoline in the country has risen in price by almost three rubles, and the cost of diesel fuel has increased by 4.22 rubles.

Why are gasoline prices rising?

According to the President of the Russian Fuel Union Yevgeny Arkusha, gas station prices depend on many factors. First of all, gasoline at gas stations is becoming more expensive following the increase in wholesale prices. And the latter are increasing in a number of macroeconomic indicators.

Everything is connected here: the fall of the ruble against the dollar, and the high export parity, and the desire of oil companies to earn as much as possible, so the fuel is exported both legally and illegally— explains Arkusha.

According to an AVTO.RU expert, the ruble exchange rate, which sank sharply in the first half of August, affects prices, but this is not the main factor. In addition to it, taxes in the oil industry are growing, as well as reduced damperwhich used to be a brake on wholesale price increases.

The export alternative is increasing for a number of reasons, fuel goes to foreign markets. Production volumes are declining, because this year we are going through some crazy repairs at oil refineries. Last year, we did not raise prices to the level of inflation, although all costs increased by at least one and a half times. Since the spring of 2022, there have been problems with exports, the market was full, wholesale prices were low, although inflation was in the double digits. Both consumer and industrial— said the President of the Russian Fuel Union.

Prices for goods and services are rising throughout the country, but citizens pay special attention to the situation with gasoline, because the price tags at gas stations are in front of everyone, Arkusha believes. At the same time, the expert is afraid to give any forecasts for further price growth, because the fuel market is currently experiencing great volatility.

Where did the shortage of fuel at gas stations come from.

According to Anton Shaparin, vice-president of the National Automobile Union, the Russian Government is losing fuel market regulation mechanisms, and now, for example, there is a serious shortage of gasoline at the Ural gas stations. The reason the expert calls the already mentioned reduction in payments to oilmen for the fuel damper.

Today, in the regions of the Urals and in a number of other subjects of the Russian Federation, there is still a shortage — the required amount of fuel is not shipped to filling stations. This problematic situation has been observed for the last few months. It is associated with the expected reduction of 50% in budget payments to oil companies under the fuel damper mechanism, which compensates for part of the difference between export prices for petroleum products and domesticShaparin explains.

According to agreements between the state and oil companies, the latter receive payments from the budget when export prices exceed the indicative price set by the state. And from September of this year until the end of 2026, damper payments are halved. Therefore, according to Shaparin, oil companies limit the supply of fuel to the domestic market, due to which there is a shortage of oil products at gas stations.

We see that the Government of the Russian Federation has found itself in a difficult situation and is unsuccessfully trying to create leverage in the oil market. In previous years, the authorities were able to control the oil industry with the help of a damper and maintaining tough rhetoric — then prices on the domestic market were more or less comfortable, and fuel was supplied to it stably. And now the Government is losing the mechanisms for regulating the fuel market. The complete abolition of this damper mechanism is not excluded.the expert is sure.

Is it possible to contain the rise in prices?

Against the backdrop of a general rise in prices, the change in the cost of fuel does not seem so critical, believes Pyotr Shkumatov, a representative of the Public Popular Front.

Of course, motorists have a number of questions on this topic, but I would not say that they are acute now. Yes, people see that the price of gasoline is rising, but the prices around are rising for everything. Therefore, the rise in the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel does not seem to be something out of the ordinary. Most motorists do not understand the nuances of gasoline pricing and associate this only with the overall picture of the market— suggested Shkumatov.

Experts are outraged by the position of the oil industry, who, in pursuit of profit, redirect the flow of oil products for export, creating a shortage and rising prices in the country.

In the current difficult situation with the Russian budget, this looks strange, since oil workers definitely cannot be called beggars— Anton Shaparin from US supports the popular opinion.

According to the representative of the automobile union, the state can still influence the oil market participants with the help of administrative levers, forcing them to provide the necessary fuel supplies. If tough measures are taken, we can expect saturation of the fuel market and its stable supplies.

If such measures are not taken, then Russian consumers will remain extreme — they will have to face either a shortage of fuel or a significant increase in fuel prices. Neither of these can be considered the norm.the expert concluded.

It is the state, in his opinion, that should ensure the stabilization of fuel prices in the near future.

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