REUTERS
There is no reason to speak about collusion in the domestic market or about a speculative rise in prices, Riabtsev said.
Director of Special Projects at Psychea Scientific and Technical Center Gennadii Riabtsev says the record price hikes recently seen on the market of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Ukraine are associated with an increase in global fuel prices, the lack of available resources, and the weakening of the national currency, the hryvnia.
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"If we talk about the previous price fluctuations, we see that their rates were approximately the same for both petrol and liquefied petroleum gas. Now the price of LPG is growing a bit faster than that of petrol. This is due to the fact that there are fewer such resources in the free market, since traders haven't concluded long-term contracts on gas supplies with producers. Moreover, Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian, Bulgarian and other traders now buy free resources for the start of the heating season. Therefore, the resources are less available, plus the hryvnia has weakened while the price of crude oil has increased," the expert told UNIAN on October 23.
According to Riabtsev, there is no reason to speak about collusion in the domestic market or about a speculative rise in prices.
"Over the last month, the price of liquefied petroleum gas grew by 9% on the border. Therefore, the price of LPG has went up by 9%, that is, somewhere around UAH 1.5. So, there is a direct correlation. In this case, there are no significant abuses on the part of traders. They realize that rising prices frighten buyers, which reduces their turnover. However, like all participants in the fuel market, they operate due to volumes rather than high margins," the expert added.
Riabtsev also forecasts that if the national currency weakens further, the prices of LPG will go up substantially since Ukraine imports about 75% of liquefied petroleum gas.
"If there is a further decline in the forex rate of the national currency, the price of liquefied petroleum gas will go up," he said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on October 22, the average price of liquefied petroleum gas in Ukraine rose to UAH 16.13, or US$0.57, per liter, reaching the absolute price ceiling.