The Consumer Union of Ukraine, with the involvement of reputable international companies, conducted a large-scale fuel quality study at seven gas stations in Kyiv and Kyiv region. The results were presented at a press conference at UNIAN on May 24.
The study participants were the networks OKKO, BRSM, SOCAR, MOTTO, Avantazh 7, WOG, SUNOIL. Samples of diesel fuel and A-95 gasoline were taken by specialists from SGS, a world leader in inspection services. The analysis was carried out by the Ukrainian division of Bureau Veritas, a member of the International Federation of Inspection Agencies (IFIA) — the laboratory "Inspectorate Ukraine". The initiator of the study was the Consumer Union of Ukraine.
The study refuted information from a number of media outlets about the alleged content of prohibited monomethylaniline in BRSM fuel. Inspectors did not detect MMA in samples from any of the seven networks.
Fuel from the MOTTO and SUNOIL networks received negative results in terms of quality. In particular, the sulfur content in gasoline at these gas stations exceeds the norm by 2 times and 20%, respectively. The same indicator for diesel fuel is exceeded by 30 and 15 times, respectively. The oxygen content (with a norm of up to 2.7%) in MOTTO gasoline was 12.7%, in SUNOIL — 6.24%. The octane number is below the norm — 92 for MOTTO and 93.9 for SUNOIL instead of the required 95. In addition, an increased content of toxic methanol was found in the fuel of these networks: with a norm of up to 3%, MOTTO has 16.5%, SUNOIL — 3.6%.
"The MOTTO network also had problems with documents. Unfortunately, we only found the manufacturer's passport. As it later turned out, this passport did not correspond to the indicators obtained from the laboratory study," said Oleg Tsilvik, executive director of the International Academy of Standardization. The mandatory laboratory passport was not available at the Avantazh 7 and SUNOIL networks. SUNOIL also revealed the fact of selling petroleum products without issuing a fiscal receipt.
The worst results in the "price-quality" ratio were obtained by representatives of the premium segment. OKKO, SOCAR and WOG sell gasoline at the highest price on the market — 30.22 UAH. The lowest price is at Avantazh 7 — 27.95 UAH. At the same time, OKKO and WOG, like Avantazh 7, bought fuel at the same time from one supplier — the Mozyr Oil Refinery. "In a way unusual for market conditions, three operators keep one price, while their competitor with a similar product has a significantly different price. A similar situation with diesel. Three suppliers sell the products of the Mozyr Refinery, and again the price differs by 2 hryvnias," said Oleg Tsilvik. He suggested that such an anomalous pricing policy may indicate that premium networks set prices not in a market way.
