The Ukrainian oil refining industry should be protected from the influx of the imported oil products, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov told a briefing after the opening of the Chervonodonetsk gas booster station at the Shebelinka gas field in the Kharkiv region.

According to him, such protection will stimulate the revival of the domestic oil refining industry. "To run our own oil refineries, we need to protect our oil refiners from the influx of the imported oil products," Azarov said.

He stressed that 5 of 7 Ukrainian oil refineries was closed due to the unprofitability of their activity, the other two are working intermittently. "Why don’t they work? Our Russian friends have established extremely high export duties on oil. In total with the oil price and due to actual petroleum prices, the oil refining becomes unprofitable in Ukraine," the Prime Minister said.

Moreover, according to Azarov, Ukrainian refineries need thorough renovation and modernization, as now they cannot compete with the imported petroleum products.

In addition, in his opinion, it will not be easy to run domestic refineries, because Ukraine is bound with the obligations before the World Trade Organization, has obligations under the FTA agreement. Azarov stressed that the decision on the introduction of import duty on oil products "will cause temporary, but still increase in oil products prices."

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