A serious fuel crisis has started in Ukraine. At first glance, Belarus is to blame for the situation, but everything is not so unambiguous
This is reported by FAN.
According to Associate Professor of Economic Theory Department at Plekhanov Russian Economic University Oleg Cherednichenko, the failure of imports from Belarus is based on a “tangle” of problems. It is not only the deterioration of relations between Kiev and Minsk; the US is also to blame for the situation.
Sanctions against the Novopolotsk refinery Naftan come into force next week, while a second Belarusian refinery, Mozyr, is going away for scheduled repairs in the near future. Physically, Belarus will not be able to export fuel to Ukraine, as the country itself may not have enough resource.
Cherednichenko said that a way out of the situation with the U.S. sanctions would probably have been found if not for Ukraine’s actions in response to the incident in the sky over Belarus. Here Minsk’s response worked.
Minsk went for this measure deliberately, having a formal pretext – internal difficulties with the production of the product. The problem also lies in the Ukrainian authorities’ attempt to “manually” regulate prices, which has entailed a significant reduction in the efficiency of gasoline exports to the country for the supplier. As a result, four major gas station chains in Ukraine have stopped selling premium fuel due to government price regulation. The Ukrainian authorities themselves have triggered the possibility of a black market for fuel in the country, which will entail a tax shortfall.
Earlier, political analyst Petr Petrovsky said that Ukraine had no right to meddle in Belarus’ internal affairs and express an opinion commenting on democracy and freedom of speech in the republic.