REUTERS
Ukrainian traders have managed to replace supplies of Russian oil products in the amount of 170,000 tonnes per month by boosting fuel purchases from other countries, Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Volodymyr Demchyshyn said in a video addressing participants in the Petroleum Ukraine 2015 international conference in Kyiv.
"And now about the embargo that we are currently experiencing from the Russian side. Due to the diversification, which is already under way, we have been able to pass through 2015. A total of 170,000 tonnes of fuel previously shipped by Russian companies have been replaced with shipments from other suppliers," Demchyshyn said.
He praised prospects for fuel supplies from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
"Turkmenistan is ready to supply at least 20,000 tonnes per month ... We have analyzed logistics costs in detail. I am sure that the final price of oil products from Turkmenistan in Ukraine will be lower than that of Ukrainian products," the minister added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia has sharply reduced exports of liquefied gas and diesel fuel to Ukraine since early October, according to some media reports.
Russia attributes the suspension of diesel fuel supplies to Ukraine to the ban by the Russian authorities on the export of the petroleum products that can be used by the Ukrainian army.