Russian authorities have blamed speculators for the sharp rise in fuel prices
The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (FAS) has officially announced the exposure of a cartel conspiracy in the domestic fuel market, which has fallen into a deep crisis following a series of successful attacks on oil refineries.
According to the agency, the illegal actions of speculators led to an acute gasoline shortage and serious disruptions in the supply of diesel fuel and jet fuel.
Against the backdrop of this artificially created vacuum, wholesale prices for petroleum products in the aggressor country skyrocketed by tens of percent.
Three large commercial entities that completely controlled the course of electronic auctions came under suspicion by regulatory authorities.
Such an aggressive monopolization strategy “restricted the ability of bona fide market participants to purchase petroleum products,” the press service of the Russian regulator stated on Tuesday.
Currently, an antitrust case has been officially opened against these fuel traders due to large-scale financial fraud.
Investigators note that the actions of these companies “show signs of an anti-competitive agreement” to “resell gasoline and diesel fuel at inflated prices.”
Russian authorities are attempting to shift the blame for the shortage onto intermediaries in order to mask the real devastating consequences of the attack on their own energy infrastructure.
According to official reports from the St. Petersburg Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange, since the beginning of the year, the wholesale price of AI-92 gasoline has risen by 30%, and that of the popular AI-95 by 33%.
Currently, prices for these grades of fuel have risen to 70,200 and 77,000 rubles per ton, respectively.
The situation is even worse in the diesel fuel market, where prices have jumped by 40% at once, setting a new all-time high of 75,900 rubles per ton.
Russia Allows Lower-Quality Gasoline Due to Fuel Crisis
Despite reports of gasoline shortages in a number of regions, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated that the situation on the country’s fuel market remains “stable.”
