Fuel prices rise in Azerbaijan

The prices of imported AI-95 (Premium) and AI-98 (Super) petrol in Azerbaijan have gone up. Currently the price of AI-95 is 1.25 AZN and AI-98 is 1.50 AZN (USD 0.74 and 0.88 respectively).

Before the increase, a litre of Premium fuel cost AZN 0.95 while a liter of Super cost AZN 1.10 – an increase of 13.6%.

The state oil company, SOCAR explained that the price increased because these grades of fuel are imported from abroad (mainly from Romania), and added that fuel prices are formed in accordance with the price trends in the world market. As these grades of fuels are imported, their cost is not regulated by the tariff council of the government of Azerbaijan. SOCAR assured the public that the new prices will only affect owners of luxury vehicles.

The government claims that the price increase does not apply to AI-92 petrol nor diesel fuel produced in the republic which is used by the majority of drivers.

SOCAR sources added that prices for Premium and Super petrol grades also increased in neighboring Russia and Georgia.

“Premium petrol costs USD 0.74 in Azerbaijan and USD 1.05 in Ukraine, meaning that Ukraine is USD 0.31 more expensive. In Georgia it’s USD 0.86, USD 0.12 more expensive than in Azerbaijan. In Turkey the same type of fuel costs USD 1.45 which is USD 0.71 more than Azerbaijan. In Armenia it is sold for USD 0.85, which is USD 0.11 more than in Azerbaijan. It’s approximately the same for the Super gradient,” wrote the report.az website.

Social networks reacted poorly to the news about the price increase:

“If, as they say, the price of imported petrol is determined by the world market, then why is it growing all the time and never decreasing? What kind of market is it if SOCAR has the monopoly in the country?”

“It’s a shame for an oil rich country to depend on imported fuel due to a lack of proper technology for this. What sort of brain do you need to have in order to build a heaped-up oil refinery in Turkey, and not in your own country?” (Referring to the STAR Refinery in Izmir, a subsidiary of SOCAR.)