Rosneft President asks RF Prime Minister to put development of bunkering activities into hands of VIS

Rosneft President Igor Sechin has addressed RF Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev with a proposal to put implementation of the programme on bunkering market development into the hands of ship fuel producers with a priority provided to companies with long-term contracts. According to the letter dated September 23, 2013 (IAA PortNews has obtained a copy of it), the volume of Russia’s bunkering market is estimated at 8-9 mln t per year with subdivisions of vertically integrated systems accounting for 70% of sales. Among such companies Sechin mentioned RN-Bunker, LUKOIL-Bunker and Gazpromneft Marine Bunker.

The letter also says that apart from VIS subdivisions, Russian bunkering market is represented by a pool of independent players which “purchase fuel from mini plants, so called “teapot refineries” producing low-quality products”. “Later these dumped products are sold through shadow and offshore schemes, leading to considerable shortfall of taxes in the budget,” Sechin writes.

According to Sechin, state fiscal agencies have no possibility to execute proper control of bunker fuel sales.

The resolution of Dmitry Medvedev orders RF Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov and head of the Federal Customs Service Andrei Belyaninov to elaborate notes on the development of port infrastructure and bunkering market.