Popular gas stations are under investigation by the AMCU over fuel cards

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has identified signs of anticompetitive conduct in the operations of several fuel market operators and fuel card issuers. This concerns agreements between gas station chains that may have created barriers to other companies’ participation in public procurement.

According to the AMCU, the restrictions concerned the use of fuel cards in partner networks. The regulator believes that such conditions could have affected competition and allowed companies to coordinate their behavior.

AMCU’s Findings

The Commission began investigating the light petroleum products market in January 2025. Following its analysis, in July the agency initiated proceedings against 19 business entities. Among the companies involved in the case are Alliance Holding LLC, BVS Retail LLC, “Avtotrans-Oil Trading House” LLC, “Petrol Partner” LLC, “Ventus Resource” LLC, “Pride” LLC, and other participants in the fuel market.

According to the AMCU, starting in late 2023, the companies entered into partnership agreements with one another. These agreements allowed customers to use fuel cards at various gas stations that were part of the partner network. However, these agreements contained a clause prohibiting the use of such cards and fuel for participation in public procurement without the partner’s prior consent. The committee noted that it found no objective reasons for such a restriction.

How This Could Have Affected the Market

The AMCU believes that such conditions could have artificially reduced the number of participants in tenders. As a result, companies could have gained an advantage when preparing for and participating in government procurement. The regulator saw these actions as signs of a violation of the legislation on the protection of economic competition. Specifically, this involves a possible violation of Part 1 of Article 6 and Paragraph 1 of Article 50 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Economic Competition.”

What Companies Must Do Now

The AMCU has provided the parties to the case with the following recommendations:

• remove the disputed clause from partnership agreements;
• refrain from including similar restrictions in future agreements.

The companies must notify the Antimonopoly Committee of their compliance with the recommendations within 10 days of receiving them. The regulator has given them two months to fully remedy the violations. The AMCU is currently continuing its review of the case and will assess the further actions of the market participants. This is stated in the agency’s decision.

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