Talk of low stock of petrol and diesel has created a wave of hoarding.
Rumors are spreading in Ukraine about the sudden shrinking of the country’s fuel reserves, several Ukrainian media reports.
The rumor mill started with the statement of Mykola Kolesnikov, Deputy Energy Minister of Ukraine, according to which Ukraine’s stocks of gasoline and diesel are in critical condition.
The minister’s message immediately triggered a wave of fuel hoarding and huge queues formed at gas stations. Rumors of a sudden increase in the fuel needs of the Ukrainian military also came up for discussion.
Read more: Ukraine nationalizes truck maker KrAZ
Kolesnikov’s message was later corrected to say that the country’s current fuel reserves now last at least 30 days, not a maximum of 30 days.
Ukraine has a law that allows distributors to store half of their fuel stock abroad. For this reason, for example, there is a lot of Ukrainian-owned gasoline and diesel stored in oil terminals on the Polish and Lithuanian side.
