Фото: Reform.by
Belneftekhim says it is not seeing unusually high demand at Belarusian filling stations. The statement was made by the concern’s deputy chairman, Uladzimir Sizou.
“We are fully supplied with the required volumes of petroleum products. As we can see, the situation at filling stations is calm. We are not seeing any rush or queues that would be unusual for this time of year or for this day of the week,” BelTA quoted him as saying.
He acknowledged that demand typically rises during the summer because of the holiday season and agricultural work, but said the concern is prepared for this.
“We are always prepared for this period, and the volumes of petroleum products planned in advance are sufficient. We anticipated a certain increase in sales during the current period, and we are handling it without difficulty,” he said.
According to him, customers buying fuel also include visitors from Russia.
“All our guests stop here and appreciate the quality of our fuel. This is also one of our brands — everyone trusts the quality of Belarusian fuel,” he said.
Sizou added that there has been no unusual increase in demand that would affect the quality of service for Belarusian consumers. However, queues may form ahead of weekends and public holidays.
“The same situation can be observed on the roads, where traffic congestion may occur on routes leaving the city. A similar situation may develop at some filling stations, where people heading out on long trips stop to refuel at the same time. But this situation is no different from what is typical for this period,” he said.
Sizou also commented on the recent increase in fuel prices.
“Yes, there have been some increases — most recently on July 8, when prices rose by one kopeck. But I do not think this is a significant factor for consumers, and it certainly cannot influence consumer sentiment or lead to queues at filling stations,” he said.
According to him, Belneftekhim takes scheduled maintenance and other factors into account when planning supplies.
“We take into account both maintenance work and seasonal changes in demand, and we guarantee that any demand arising on the domestic market will be met as a priority.
A combination of organisational and technical measures is in place to plan petroleum product output, storage volumes and logistics capacity for delivering fuel to consumers.
This allows us to say with confidence that there can be no fuel shortages or unusually long queues at filling stations under the current circumstances,” the deputy chairman added.
It should be noted that deliveries of Belarusian fuel to Russia reached a peak in June, totalling 150,000 tonnes. At the same time, trading volumes of Belarusian gasoline on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange declined earlier this month.