It was also decided at the meeting to carry out a second stage of reduction in prices for gasoline and diesel fuel inside Russia. Rosneft was already among the first Russian oil companies to lower wholesale and retail prices at the start of February. The second wave of reductions means that Rosneft product prices will have been cut by up to 1.5 rubles per liter in some regions of the country since the start of the month.
Mr Khudainatov commented: “It should be remembered that vertically integrated oil companies have only 40% share of the retail market, while the other 60% is controlled by independents. Nevertheless, Rosneft believes that its initiative will help to stabilize the domestic market for petroleum products, and that motorists will appreciate the Company’s efforts, particularly in view of the high quality of Rosneft products”.
Rosneft owns a chain of 1700 filling stations in 40 regions of Russia. More than 50 million tonnes of oil were refined at Company refineries in 2010.