"They Wanted To Whisper In My Ear Answers About Petrol Prices"

Belarusians have caught Belnautakhim flatfooted.

On February 25, several dozens of people demanded to explain the reasons for the rise in fuel prices at the office of the Belnautakhim state concern in Minsk. The rally had been initiated by YouTube blogger Uladzimir Tsyhanovich.

As Tsyhanovich explained in the comment to naviny.by, he and his supporters demanded from the company management to explain the mechanism of fuel price formation. According to him, there were no plans to hold a meeting in the street.

"The goal was not to stand in the street and make a fuss there. The goal was to come, sit in the office and talk. We have been trying to communicate with Belnautakhim since last May to understand how the fuel price is formed. We were sending proposals, offering to meet, were sending requests to the Council of Ministers. We receive formal replies, we have not seen any dialogue, not even an attempt. So we decided to come personally," - the blogger said.

Apart from explaining the mechanism of fuel price formation, the blogger was interested in where the money from the processing of Belarusian oil goes and how much the state earns.

Deputy Head Uladzimir Sizou came out to the audience.

"They came out to the porch, but it was impossible to communicate normally. When there are a lot of people standing, the dialogue does not work out. They wanted to whisper the answers in my ear, I asked them to speak loudly, I started retelling their answers to the crowd. They wouldn't call me in. But the main question we asked was when the prices would stop rising and how to make the prices go down," - he said.

Sizou told those present that the fuel price depends on raw material prices, agreements with suppliers, currency rates, etc.

According to Tsyhanovich, he has not received any answers to his questions and he intends to continue trying to establish a dialogue with the company representatives.

"In the world, when the price of oil goes down, the price of petrol also goes down, but in our country it always goes up. We are ready to find 5 people who are familiar with pricing to meet with the company and they will tell us, the people, how petrol prices are formed," - the blogger stressed.

Tsyhanovich added that the appearance of the concern representatives for communication is already a progress. He said that he was ready to help the concern with communication free of charge to clarify this issue. The blogger stressed that he does not make political demands, but only economic ones, and will act strictly within the law. Tsyhanovich also said that after the rally, the car of one participant was stopped by traffic police for inspection.

In July 2019, the Belnautakhim press service reported that the cost of the Belarusian fuel depends on the oil price in the world market and the rate of the Belarusian ruble. And that the price of oil, imported into Belarus, is tied to world quotations.

"At the same time, the growth of fuel costs, for reasons that do not depend on us, is mainly distributed among the producers of petroleum products (refineries), fuel sellers (petrol station networks) and affects retail prices to a minimum extent, that is, it is not pinned on the buyers," - the concern reported.

In 2018 and until the fall of 2019, Belnautakhim was raising the price of motor fuel almost weekly because of the rising cost of oil for the Belarusian refineries. Since late September, the growth stopped for more than a month and resumed on November 24 - a week after the elections to the House of Representatives.