President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with the representatives of the companies - participants of the fuel market and petrol stations on fuel prices and the fight against illegal oil refineries.
The Head of State put an emphasis on the first results of the fight against illegal petrol stations.
“About 800 illegal petrol stations were closed. This is a good start,” he said.
The President also thanked the market participants for their reaction to the call to reduce real fuel prices at petrol stations.
“It seems to me that people have perceived it very well and they are grateful. In fact, there is a price reduction. The average price for A-95 gasoline in Ukraine is $ 1.06 (per 1 liter - ed.),” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He also stressed the importance of solving the problem of illegal oil refineries.
“The last examples I saw were illegal oil refineries in Rivne and Kryvyi Rih. Therefore, I would like the law enforcers to pay attention to all illegal oil refineries,” the President said.
The Head of State suggested allowing the owners of illegal oil refineries to legalize their business. “It shouldn’t be as before - men in masks ran in and closed everything. You should warn people to make everything legal. And then let them work. The country should receive taxes from legal business,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
He also stressed that the achieved positive results were only the beginning of the joint work aimed to combat illegal oil refineries and petrol stations.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk noted that the government had engaged the fuel market participants in the fight against its shadow segment.
"It really reduces pressure on the “white” business," the Prime Minister said.
According to the Prime Minister, eliminating conspiracies and non-competitive actions in the market will reduce the cost of fuel for the population.
Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov informed that the Security Service was working on 10 illegal oil refineries.
According to him, most oil refineries formally work legally because they draw up documentation for the production of blends instead of gasoline or diesel, thus avoiding the excise duty.
Deputy Head of the Office of the President Yulia Kovaliv also stressed the importance of solving the problem of illegal tapping into oil pipelines. "Solving the problem of illegal "cutting" into oil pipelines will help prevent the spread of illegally produced oil products," she emphasized.
The participants of the meeting thanked the President for the measures aimed to combat illegal petrol stations.