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Shortage of diesel fuel, experts blame improper capping


https://www.ipn.md/index.php/en/shortage-of-diesel-fuel-experts-blame-improper-capping-7978_1090301.html

Farmers complain that there is a shortage of diesel fuel in Moldova and they cannot purchase fuel to cultivate the land. They said they cannot find diesel fuel to buy wholesale, while the filling stations sell diesel fuel only directly into the reservoir. Experts explain there is a regional shortage of diesel fuel owing to the war in Ukraine and to the fact that the fuel stores are perceived as military targets in the neighboring country, IPN reports.

Representatives of the Association “Force of Farmers” said they cannot buy diesel fuel wholesale and have to go to filling stations with canisters and to pretend that they are filling the reservoirs.

“Yesterday, the filling stations didn’t sell diesel fuel as they didn’t have reserves. The filling stations sell only into the reservoir. We have to keep containers in the trunks to buy fuel so that they do not see us through video cameras at filling stations, as if we steal fuel, not buy it. Everywhere in the world, the agricultural producers are favored. In the EU and outside it, there are preferential prices for diesel fuel. In the Baltic countries, there are pumps on which it is shown that the diesel fuel is sold wholesale, while agricultural machines are filed in a preferential way. We cannot speak about favoring in our country. They do not create at least conditions for us to be able to buy fuel,” Alexandru Brînză, of the Association “Force of Farmers”, stated in the talk show “Secrets of the Power” on JurnalTV channel.

Experts say the shortage of diesel fuel is due to the war in Ukraine as the logistics chains were disrupted. But in the current conditions, the regulation of fuel prices is inopportune.

“It is a shortage of diesel fuel. NAER misleads the people. At the customs posts, the rows of trucks are 10 km long. It is a problem related to logistics. Instead of an oil company performing two-three routes a week, it performs one route in two weeks. The filling stations do not have diesel fuel as a result. I hope tour Government and the Government of Romania will find a solution to unlock customs clearance,” said energy expert Sergiu Tofilat.

“The fact that the farmers have to buy diesel fuel from gas stations or to buy wholesale at higher pieces, almost similar to those on station boards, is the result of this improper capping, There is a shortage on the regional market because of the war in Ukraine. The logistics chains were cut. The diesel fuel stored in Ukraine is a military target and whole stores are destroyed. If there is not enough diesel fuel and those from Ukraine are ready to pay large prices for it, why do you think that the fuel will go to a market like that in the Republic of Moldova, which is capped and regulated?” asked energy expert Victor Parlicov.

On Wednesday, the National Agency for Energy Regulation said the unprecedented rise in the price ceilings can be explained by the recovery of the world economies following the pandemic and, consequently, the unbalancing of the equilibrium between supply and demand and by the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, which perturbed the traditional logistical chains and partially excluded the Russian oil products from the Western markets. The Agency noted that at the moment, the supplies of oil products are sufficient for covering the current needs of the national economy and the citizens.