Ukraine is proposing that the European Union increase the existing duty-free export quota for Ukrainian bioethanol of 125,000 tonnes per year to account for the volume of bioethanol that Ukraine imports from the EU as a component of motor gasoline, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky told journalists.
"We calculated that Ukraine currently imports about 10,000 [tonnes] of bioethanol per month in gasoline... This proposal is for the period of martial law, as long as security conditions do not allow Ukraine to blend gasoline with biocomponents, forcing us to import it," the minister explained.
He recalled that the mandatory requirement for a minimum 7% bioethanol content in A-92 and A-95 motor gasoline came into effect in Ukraine on July 1 of this year, whereas the 125,000-tonne quota was established last year when gasoline was imported without bioethanol content.
Vysotsky noted that the quota could be flexible: if, for example, gasoline containing 5,000 tonnes of bioethanol is imported in a given month, then an additional 5,000 tonnes [of export quota] appears; if 15,000 tonnes in another month, then 15,000 tonnes.
According to him, overall for the year, this could amount to another roughly 120,000 tonnes of bioethanol.
In the opinion of the Minister of Agrarian Policy, this Ukrainian initiative has a high probability of being received and implemented by European partners.
