As Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports, the bill was submitted to the State Duma for consideration by the LDPR party, and if approved during the autumn session, it could enter into force from the beginning of the year. The explanatory memorandum states that previously taken measures “have not yet produced visible results for the end consumer”, and therefore deputies consider it reasonable to introduce a mechanism for maximum permitted retail prices for fuel. This must be done “to protect the legitimate economic interests of citizens and society as a whole,” the authors of the idea note.

However, according to the head of the National Energy Security Fund, Konstantin Simonov, the bill under consideration not only will not protect citizens from rising prices, but could also trigger a new fuel crisis. He explains that if authorities set maximum prices for the domestic market but leave export prices at market prices, oil companies will send all their fuel abroad. And if they are banned from supplying petrol and diesel abroad, they will start exporting crude oil. If they also impose restrictions on this, they simply reduce production, which leads to a decrease in contributions to the budget.

As Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports, the bill was submitted to the State Duma for consideration by the LDPR party, and if approved during the autumn session, it could enter into force from the beginning of the year. The explanatory memorandum states that previously taken measures “have not yet produced visible results for the end consumer”, and therefore deputies consider it reasonable to introduce a mechanism for maximum permitted retail prices for fuel. This must be done “to protect the legitimate economic interests of citizens and society as a whole,” the authors of the idea note.

However, according to the head of the National Energy Security Fund, Konstantin Simonov, the bill under consideration not only will not protect citizens from rising prices, but could also trigger a new fuel crisis. He explains that if authorities set maximum prices for the domestic market but leave export prices at market prices, oil companies will send all their fuel abroad. And if they are banned from supplying petrol and diesel abroad, they will start exporting crude oil. If they also impose restrictions on this, they simply reduce production, which leads to a decrease in contributions to the budget.