More than 400 illegal petrol stations discovered in Ukraine: where are they most common?
14 October 2024 18:31
Lviv, Odesa and Ivano-Frankivsk regions topped the anti-rating of illegal petrol stations. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the “the Ukrainian Oil and Gas Association.
According to the latest data as of September 2024, the number of petrol stations with signs of illegal activity in Ukraine has increased again and reached 419 facilities. The leaders in terms of the number of such stations were Lviv region – 98 petrol stations (23%), Odesa region – 42 petrol stations (10%) and Ivano-Frankivsk region – 41 petrol stations (10%).
In addition, Kyiv and Dnipropetrovs’k regions were among the anti-leaders with 31 and 29 illegal petrol stations.
In total, according to the NAU, there are more than 400 illegal filling stations in Ukraine.
Which petrol stations are considered illegal
Illegal petrol stations are fuel retail outlets that have signs of operating in violation of the current legislation of Ukraine, such as
- The petrol station does not provide a fiscal receipt
- The receipt contains information that the cash register is operating in test mode.
- There is no consumer corner at the filling station, which should contain information about the owner of the filling station, fuel prices and product quality documents.
- The filling station is located in violation of urban planning legislation
- There are no fire extinguishing equipment at the filling station
- Fuel is sold from tankers, canisters in garages, etc.
Why it is necessary to stop the operation of illegal petrol stations
- Illegal petrol stations pose a complex danger to the state and citizens.
- Losses for budgets of all levels
- The turnover of counterfeit petroleum products through the network of illegal stations reaches 500 thousand tonnes per year, and the state loses VAT and excise tax, which is mainly used for road construction and repair.
- Sales without cash registers amount to more than 1.5 million tonnes per year. This deprives local budgets of a special subsidy from the state budget for fuel sales, as its amount is determined according to the number of litres of fuel sold through cash registers at petrol stations.
- The staff at illegal petrol stations work without official employment, and local budgets lose huge amounts of taxes on payroll and personal income.
- Illegal petrol stations are located without permits on the land of local communities, which means they do not receive rent payments and land taxes.
- The Ukrainian Oil and Gas Association estimates the total amount of losses to the central and local budgets at UAH 10 billion a year.
