As reported, starting from November 16, the Central Energy Customs Authority began suspending clearance of imported LPG shipments from a number of suppliers. The reason was requests from investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine demanding that product samples be taken from each arriving tank car. The fuel seizure is part of a criminal investigation opened under paragraph 1 of Article 258-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which concerns the financing of terrorist activities. At the same time, the restrictions affect not only cargoes of companies under investigation, but also products of other companies using their storage facilities. As a result of these measures, long downtime of railway tank cars occurred, leading to financial losses for market participants.
In addition, problems became known for the company "Gaztron-Ukraine", which since November 14 has been unable to complete customs clearance of a batch of LPG totaling 4,000 tons located in the port of Chornomorsk in Odesa region. Customs officers demanded that the importer provide confirmation of exchange quotations for LPG specifically on the date of shipment, which fell on a non-working day — Saturday, November 12, when quotation agencies did not publish data.
Artem Kuyun, an analyst at "Consulting Group A-95", noted that in mid-November wholesale prices for LPG in Ukraine began to fall, but news of import difficulties reversed this trend. According to his forecasts, retail prices for propane-butane could rise by 80 kopecks per liter by the end of the current month.
The expert also recalled that the practice of mandatory sampling of imported LPG was already used by customs authorities in 2012–2014. At that time, it led to an increase in the cost of the resource by $100–150 per ton and kept prices high for drivers. After this scheme was abolished in early 2014, the cost of LPG in Ukraine noticeably decreased, and its consumption volumes over the next two years grew by 1.6 times, reaching 1.4 million tons.
"It is difficult to understand how the chemical composition of gas is related to support for terrorism. At the same time, it is obvious that the actions of the SBU and customs authorities cause real damage to honest business and hit the interests of millions of motorists," Artem Kuyun concluded.
