According to the spokesperson of Sverdlovsknefteproduct JSC, the official dealer of Sibneft JSC (Siberian supplier) in Sverdlovsk Region, the company managed to keep the mineral oil prices at their filling stations stable throughout the year 2005. ‘We believe this is due to a moratorium declared by some oil companies,’ the spokesperson reports.

Retail petrol prices have also remained almost the same since September 19 when a number of major Russian oil companies such as LUKOIL, TNK-BP, Rosneft, Tatneft and Surgutneftgaz decided not to let the prices at the filling stations go up, regardless of the oil price dynamics.

Some experts believe the petrol prices should go up right after the winter holidays, others expect the prices to start growing no earlier than February or March with a peak at the beginning of a high driving season. The Ministry for Industry and Power Engineering hopes the prices won’t grow by more than 11% throughout 2006.