Head of Government about the situation on the liquefied gas market: This is a sabotage against Ukraine

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman commissioned line ministries, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine(AMCU), the State Fiscal Service, law enforcement agencies to investigate the situation on the liquefied gas market, to find out the cause of uncontrolled liquefied gas price hike and to take measures aimed to reduce fuel costs and to support competition on the market. This was stated by the Head of Government during an interagency meeting in the Cabinet of Ministers.

"I call on all line authorities to establish the order on the liquefied gas market. The sharp gas price hike has all signs of price collusion. The market is unstable. This is a sabotage against Ukraine. We must protect the domestic consumers - ordinary citizen», Volodymyr Groysman accentuated.

The Prime Minister stressed that price fluctuations did not start yesterday and the possible aggravation of the situation was forecasted in the spring. «And what do we see now? That people were right. The situation is getting worse. I am disappointed that I should personally hold a meeting and intervene in a situation while we have special authorities, in particular, the AMCU», he pointed out.

Participants of the meeting briefed the Head of Government about the current situation on the market and singled out existing problems. They noted that there is a rapid increase in gas consumption in Ukraine. According to the data provided by State Fiscal Service, during eight months of the current year, the volume of imported gas increased by 70 thousand tons, as compared to the same period last year, and exceeded 600 thousand tons.

Despite the rapid growth of the market, there is a lack of infrastructure to create fuel reserves. At the same time, during the last year, the number of traders supplying liquefied gas from the Russian Federation has significantly decreased. Taken together, this all led to a sharp increase in the price of automobile gas during peak demand for it.

"This is a result of a monopoly. At the moment, I urge the Antimonopoly Committee to take more decisive steps and Ineed all the information: how many traders, who today are working in the market, what are the sources of fuel supply - and I will give this information to the President of Ukraine. And now we have to reach a clear agreement with the participants - they should take measures to minimize the price in the coming weeks. If you need government decisions , we will approve it. This state of things cannot go on any longer», underscored the Head of Government.

"The first task is to stabilize the situation within few weeks. On September 15 we have to get another pricing policy on the liquefied gas market. I give instructions to the Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Ihor Nasalyk to summon a meeting of an interdepartmental fuel commission and to work out all decisions on this subject, to Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Kistion to consider as fast as possible all issues pertaining to the transshipment and transportation of fuel. And separately I commission the State Fiscal Service and the National Police of Ukraine to check carefully all market participants, especially unscrupulous traders. I also commission to hold a meeting at the level of Vice Prime Ministries of Ukraine and to make a comprehensive proposal seeks to resolve the situation», summed up the Prime Minister.