Indirect evidence of this thesis is the fact that barrels – illegal or semi-legal LPG filling stations built without proper permits and without compliance with safety standards – have begun to appear en masse on the roads. The Institute of Consumer Expertise, which has been dealing with fuel market issues for more than ten years, is concerned about this situation. According to the Institute's Director Yuriy Chernobrivets, “these 'under-the-fence' filling stations lure customers with low prices, but often sin with 'underfilling' – many car owners have encountered situations where, for example, 50 liters of gas were poured into a 40-liter cylinder, and the mileage was significantly less.” The savings are questionable.
There is another problem. Many motorists, again in order to save money, install LPG equipment in garages “at Uncle Vasya's.” According to Oleksiy Gursky, a representative of the company "Innovative Gas Systems", such craftsmen often install not new but used equipment and save on individual parts, for example, multivalves. As a result, more fuel can get into the tank than the nominal capacity indicated on the cylinder itself. Hence the questions about why more was filled than the size of my tank. In addition, such “improvements” significantly increase the risk of fire.
Both of these factors lead to the fact that sometimes there are disagreements between customers and gas station staff about the amount of fuel dispensed, and many motorists believe that underfilling is possible at LPG filling stations.
The BRSM Nafta chain of filling stations was the first in Ukraine to deal with this problem, offering its customers a simple and effective method of fill control. As stated by Oleksandr Melnychuk, Director of Strategic Marketing at State Oil, which manages the BRSM Nafta network, “the essence of the program is that the customer can refuel their car through a reference certified measuring tank, which allows measuring the exact amount of gas dispensed into the gas cylinder installed on the car. The equipment is configured and sealed by the state regulatory body. Now the driver can see for themselves that they were filled with exactly the amount of fuel they paid for. Thus, we demonstrate honesty and openness towards our customers.”
Currently, reference measuring tanks are installed at ten complexes in Kharkiv; in the future, as stated by the BRSM Nafta network, this initiative is planned to be implemented throughout Ukraine. The company also hopes that this initiative will be supported by other market participants, which will ultimately allow “weaning” customers away from unsafe and dishonest illegal gas filling stations.
#GAS #STATE OIL #LPG EQUIPMENT #LPG #LPG FILLING STATION #LPG
