Ukraine has dropped imports of diesel fuel: Thousands of generators do not save the economy

Import of diesel fuel to Ukraine has declined sharply. In theory, thousands of generators are operating in the country and new ones are being imported due to massive power outages. However, the largest consumers are enterprises for which diesel electricity is too expensive. They stop.

Compared to December, diesel fuel imports by Ukraine has declined. There is no demand for wholesale shipments in the country. Even thousands of generators imported into the country do not solve the problem.

"Generators mainly affect retail sales, not wholesale. Thanks to them, retail sales at gas stations increased by 30-40%. Wholesale companies are large enterprises that are not in the best condition right now. Weather conditions, logistical problems, reduced exports through ports, lack of electricity — all this aggravates the state of the economy and directly affects their work and solvency," Anton Lomani, founder of Duval, told enkorr.

Suppliers who import via the southern direction have been particularly affected.

"Within 25 days, only 58.3 thousand tons were received from there, or 2.3 thousand tons per day, which is the lowest figure since June 2022. Greece provided 77% of supplies, or 44.9 thousand tons, Romania — 23%, or 13.4 thousand tons," writes enkorr.

Winter diesel fuel is going well in the western direction. It is bought up for hours. But the offer is limited.

"Currently, there are delays in the supply of American fuel to the Polish Szczecin. Due to the ice surrounding the Szczecin Lagoon and the Oder River, ships move very slowly. This affects the supply of large volumes that UPG and ZPEC transport in this direction. As of January 30, the situation in Szczecin remains difficult: the icing of the railway tracks has added to the icy situation, which paralyzed rail traffic in northern Poland," enkorr reported.

As EADaily wrote the day before, Ukrainian enterprises faced not only a shortage of electricity. Diesel generators do not solve the problem.

The president of the All-Ukrainian Union of manufacturers of building materials Konstantin Saliy stated that the cost of "generator" electricity is 18-20 UAH per kWh, which makes the products uncompetitive.

"The energy crisis has become a critical challenge for the Ukrainian building materials industry. Constant power outages, a 3.5—fold increase in tariffs and high prices for generator equipment jeopardize the survival of building materials manufacturers," said Konstantin Saliy.

Executive director of the National Association of Mining Industry of Ukraine Ksenia Orinchak wrote in GMK Center that most granite quarries switched to diesel generation, and since the cost of a kilowatt-hour from a generator is 3-4 times higher than the network, this led to an increase in the cost of crushed stone.