Topic Of The Week
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: DREAM OR REALITY
Today there are two opposing energy-consumption trends in the world. Firstly, there is a cost minimization trend, intended to reduce spending on fuel and energy resources, labor and capital when a certain reasonable level of ultimate consumption is ensured. Secondly, there is a trend that originates from the ideology of economic growth (the self-expansion of capital) when an increase in the amount and type of ultimate consumption is connected with the growth of energy consumption. The second trend is more typical of a Western society.
MONEY FLOWS
The Ukrainian renewable energy market, which is represented by solar, wind, small-sized hydropower plants, as well as the solid and motor biofuel industry, is now one of the most attractive areas for investors.
VITALIY DAVIY: Too Early To Talk About Efficiency Of Specialized Programs
The president of the Association of Alternative Fuel and Energy Market Participants of Ukraine (APEU) is sure that agribusinesses’ subsidiaries and the entire rural infrastructure could give up the consumption of traditional types of fuel and completely transfer to the use of straw as fuel…
Anti-Counterfeit Campaign
OXYGENATE IS BEYOND THE LAW
Tax inspectors will long remember Sumy-based CJSC Eco-Energy due to its «Alternative Motor Fuel Oxygenate.» Tax officers had to work hard to establish how to handle that product from the point of view of taxation, as there are no clear-cut rules for the production and sale of motor biofuel in our country.
Scandals
THE SCANDAL OF THE WEEK: Zirka’s High-Octane Petrol Evaporates
Excess Evaporization
Early in October 2011, Donetsk’s economic court of appeals threw out an appeal by Zaporizhia-based state-run organization Zirka Combine against an April 27 ruling by Zaporizhia region’s economic court. The appeals court obliged Zirka to pay UAH 1.8 million to Rompetrol Ukraine Ltd., which in 2008 supplied A-95 EURO PLUS petrol to Zirka for storage, and when the storage agreement expired, Zirka failed to return over 282,500 liters of petrol to the owner. Zirka did not acknowledge that it was at fault and tried to accuse Rompetrol Ukraine Ltd. of not informing it about the technical characteristics of the petrol.
Forecast
A TROJAN HORSE WITH A DEFECT
Interesting times are here! Not long ago the markets gave a sigh of relief: the steady diet of bad news about the worsening of the situation in the Eurozone changed for the better after the announcement of decisions taken at the EU summit, and Greece’s default became less likely. Event the most pessimistic economists and oracles started to look less glum. Optimism started to reign on the markets. But, that wasn’t the end of the story….
PENDING STABILITY
According to economic forecasts given by the Psyche Center on the basis of a regression analysis model, the fuel market will remain stable this week. In particular, the average price of A-92 and A-95 petrol will be UAH 10.04 and UAH 10.29 per liter respectively.
Trade
QUALITY IN THE LIMELIGHT
Both of the top news reports last week were in one way or another connected with quality. First, Vice Premier Borys Kolesnikov revealed that in Ukraine there are about a hundred «completely unlawful» plants that produce petrol «as our grandfathers did,» and half of excise taxes are either stolen or not paid in full. Then First Deputy Chairman of Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee Rafael Kuzmin criticized four large importers, claiming that their A-95 Euro petrol is «UAH 1.0-1.8 per liter» higher than Europetrol sold at unbranded filling stations in the little towns of Shonky, Khaliavyn and Zaudaika.
In Coming Issues
WILL THE RESERVES SAVE THEM?
The crises that are from time to time created on the liquefied gas market with the Ukrainian government’s silent consent are encouraging traders to create developed infrastructure to store propane and butane. The country’s total storage facilities have expanded by several times since 2008.
Will the reserves save local traders or will the stocks they accumulate simply prolong the agony of the Ukrainian gas market?
PETROL COCKTAIL RECEIPTS
Every consumer has the right to choose what petrol to put in their car, where to buy it, and at what price. But sometimes one can only pity a glittering ‘steel horse’ that won’t live a long life if its eats the wrong grass. What do they add to fuel today, and what can you do to protect yourself from unwanted additives? Remember the rule: the cheaper the sausage, the more strange its effects.
You can read full articles at the journal «Terminal: Oil Review» №45(579) 7 Nov 2011
