From May 1, gasoline will be mixed with bioethanol: what drivers will feel.

According to the CEO of the OKKO group of companies, Vasyl Danylyak, the introduction of mandatory addition of 5% bioethanol to gasoline with an octane rating of less than 98 will not lead to problems at gas stations. He noted that the company had prepared for this requirement by installing the appropriate equipment a year ago.

'We will import the finished petroleum product with bioethanol, and then gradually all operators will do this themselves,' explained Danylyak. He also noted that the share of bioethanol in fuel could increase in the future, to 8% or even 10%. However, the limitation in the availability of first-generation bioethanol affects its possible share of addition.

The law stipulates that starting from June 4, 2024, all gasoline with an octane rating of less than 98 must contain 5% bioethanol, except for fuel for the Ministry of Defense, the State Reserve, and minimum stocks of oil and petroleum products.

The owner of the Parallel Group of Companies, Oleksandr Dubinin, believes that the new requirement will not significantly affect fuel prices, as a significant portion of gasoline with bioethanol will be supplied from European refineries due to the inability of the Ukrainian infrastructure to mix fuel. The president of MHP Eco Energy, Oleksandr Dombrovskyi, estimated the economic effect of the new law at over $1 billion in annual revenues to the Ukrainian budget due to the processing of agricultural crops into bioethanol.

News Analysis

It is expected that the introduction of mandatory addition of 5% bioethanol to gasoline with an octane rating of less than 98 will not lead to problems at gas stations. Companies, including OKKO, are already ready to comply with this requirement and believe that it will not cause any issues. In the future, an increase in the share of bioethanol in fuel to 8% or even 10% can also be expected. The law has great significance from an environmental point of view, as it helps reduce carbon emissions and promotes the development of domestic biofuel producers. However, the Ukrainian infrastructure is currently not ready for large-scale mixing, and a significant portion of gasoline with bioethanol will be imported. Analyzing this data, it can be concluded that the introduction of mandatory addition of bioethanol to gasoline is an important and promising step in the development of the Ukrainian biofuel market.