In 2023, fuel will be delivered to Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk at reduced prices

From April 1, 2023, the mechanism for subsidizing the transportation of petroleum products by rail, which is currently in effect for the Far East, will also extend to the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region. This decree was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the government press service reported on December 13.

Receives subsidies Russian Railways to compensate for losses arising from reduced tariffs for the delivery of gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel. “This will help contain the dynamics of wholesale prices, reduce pressure on retail, and also support local independent gas station operators,” the Cabinet of Ministers said in a release. Why these regions were included in the program is not explained.

The program for subsidizing the rail transportation of petroleum products began to operate in 2022, replacing the so-called Far Eastern damper (surcharge for the regions of the Far Eastern Federal District in the formula of the damping mechanism for fuel). This year, about 9.8 billion rubles were allocated to subsidize fuel transportation in the Far Eastern Federal District.

In 2023, 9.3 billion rubles will be allocated to subsidize the program, in 2024 – 9.6 billion rubles, and in 2025 – 10.2 billion rubles. Initially, it was planned to allocate 8.9 billion rubles under the program. in 2023 and 8.3 billion rubles. — in 2024

Vedomosti sent inquiries to the press services of the government of Russia, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region, as well as the largest oil companies and Russian Railways.

According to the government decree of December 28, 2021, motor fuel must be transported under the subsidy program free of charge if the transportation fee is 4,000 rubles/t or less. If the fee exceeds this bar, then the discount to the tariff will be 4000 rubles. per ton of fuel. Discounts do not apply to cargo “redirected at the original destination station, as well as export cargo.”

The head of the Russian Fuel Union (RTS), Evgeny Arkusha, suggested that the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region were included in the mechanism for subsidizing transportation, since they are remote from large oil refineries (refineries). Subsidies for fuel supplies, he explains, were introduced to prevent disparity in wholesale and retail prices for petroleum products in a particular region. Arkusha notes that in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region, “at times, wholesale fuel prices are significantly higher than retail prices,” which does not allow for a minimum margin for independent filling stations.

Wholesale prices for AI-92 gasoline in Russia have fallen by 28% since the beginning of the year and, according to the SPIMEX exchange, as of December 13, amounted to 36,119 rubles per ton. Since the beginning of the year, wholesale prices for diesel fuel have slightly increased by 1% to 66,305 rubles per ton. According to Rosstat, retail prices for gasoline in the Krasnoyarsk Territory since the beginning of the year decreased by 0.1% to 49.4 rubles per liter, but for diesel rose by 12.2% to 64.11 rubles. Retail prices for gasoline in the Irkutsk region increased by 7.3% to 55.69 rubles/l, diesel fuel prices increased by 7.7% to 63.02 rubles/l.

Pavel Bazhenov, head of the Independent Fuel Association (NTS; unites small filling stations that do not belong to large oil companies), added that under the embargo on the supply of Russian oil and petroleum products, part of the refinery “will be forced to reorient to the domestic market.” And expanding the geography of deliveries through subsidies, he said, will help increase the competitiveness of the supply of petroleum products. According to Bazhenov, the exemption will contribute to the convergence of fuel prices “on the western and eastern regional price bases”, which is an important part of the strategy to increase the stability of the fuel market in the country.

Mikhail Burmistrov, General Director of Infoline-analytics, added that the regions of Siberia and the Far East are highly dependent on rail transport. At the same time, now in Russia, according to the expert, there are problems with the transportation of oil cargo “due to the shortage of rolling stock that has worsened in winter.” In his opinion, subsidizing transportation in the spring of 2023 will allow market participants to attract a fleet to transport fuel to these regions “at market rates.”

Sergey Grishunin, Managing Director of the NRA Rating Service, drew attention to the fact that problems with the availability of fuel in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region constantly arise during the repair of the Khabarovsk (NNK-owned) and Komsomolsk Refineries (owned by Rosneft) in the Far East. During this period, independent networks of gas stations, according to him, are forced to buy free volumes of fuel at SPIMEX, and gas stations of large oil companies do not have time to replenish fuel due to problems with the capacity of the railway network. At the same time, prices at independent gas stations, according to Grishunin, are 5-7 rubles per liter higher than at gas stations owned by oil companies. In 2023, according to his estimates, about 2.3 million tons of oil products can be supplied under the program.