Ministry of Transportation supports Igor Sechin – requirements for bunkering may be toughened

The Ministry of Transportation has supported a part of the proposals of the Rosneft’s President, Igor Sechin on strengthening of control over marine fuels market. Restrictions may exclude small fuel producers and only large players – Rosneft, Gazpromneft and Lukoil – will stay in the market. Specialists worry that dramatic measures can lead to increase of the fuel’s price and decrease of the market because of withdrawal of foreign consumers from it.

The Ministry of Transportation has sent proposals on the development of the Russian bunkering market to the Government; they concur with the opinion of the Rosneft’s president, Igor Sechin, submitted to Dmitry Medvedev in September, very much. As the Ministry of Transportation told Kommersant, the Ministry agrees that the special bunkering divisions of vertically integrated oil companies have "significant potential in comparison with other market participants". Their advantage is that they can build specialized refuelling moorings, corresponding to "technical requirements for the safe anchorage" and transshipment of oil products. In addition, these companies can supply bunker fuel "with characteristics that meet the technical regulations and international standards" to the market “more than others”.
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