MP talks Azerbaijan getting affected by growing RON-95 fuel prices worldwide

By Trend

Growth in oil prices worldwide accelerates global inflation, Azerbaijani MP Azer Badamov told Trend.

Although growth in oil prices increases certain revenues for oil-producing countries, they lead to higher prices in general, he said.

"For example, prices for diesel fuel and gasoline change every day in most countries of the world. Since Azerbaijan is an oil-producing country, prices for oil products are controlled by state and maintained at a stable level. Diesel fuel and gasoline are more expensive in neighboring countries than in Azerbaijan,” Badamov said.

“Azerbaijan ranks 13th worldwide for lower prices for petroleum products. I want to note that the price of RON-95 gasoline has increased in neighboring countries since March of this year, in Russia - by 77.8 percent, in Georgia - by 34.8 percent, in Kazakhstan - by 10 percent, in Türkiye - by 51.7 percent," Badamov noted.

He also noted that although Azerbaijan produces RON-92 gasoline and diesel fuel, it imports RON-95 and RON-98 gasoline.

"It becomes more expensive to bring RON-95 and RON-98 brand gasoline to our country when prices for them grow. The supplier company has been paying for the increase at its own expense despite the fact that import prices for RON-95 and RON-98 gasoline have grown, and increase was not allowed for local prices,” he said.

"Therefore, the prices for RON-95 and RON-98 in our country have been stable from September 2021 through present day, and the retail price of gasoline is 1.6 manat (94 cents) per liter. However, the price of oil in the world market increased by 65 percent during this period, and the prices of petroleum products also rose in a similar way. Of course, maintaining a stable retail price for RON-95 and RON-98 domestically, caused huge financial losses to the supplier company," Badamov emphasized.

The MP also added that a comparative analysis of fuel consumed in Azerbaijan shows that 91 percent of cars run on RON-92, the last increase in price of this gasoline was in January 2021.

"The state kept prices for diesel fuel and gasoline RON-92 at a stable level over the past period. RON-95 and RON-98 is used by about 9 percent of cars in our country, which are owned by wealthy people," he said.

Therefore, prices for locally produced fuel remain stable despite the rise in prices for oil and oil products in world markets, he noted.

“Azerbaijan’s oil refining industry is being upgraded. It is planned that the reconstruction of Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery will be completed in mid 2023. Production of diesel fuel and gasoline according to Euro-5 standards will begin after the reconstruction of refinery, which will allow Azerbaijan to eliminate its dependence on imports and maintain the stability of fuel prices,” Badamov added.

Azerbaijani state has always taken into account the social situation of population when setting oil prices, and I believe that it will be able to fully control our local market after expanding local production," Badamov concluded.