The State Committee for Technical Regulation and Consumer Policy, by its order dated February 10, allowed two oil refineries - "Naftokhimik Prykarpattia" (Nadvirna, Ivano-Frankivsk region) and "Halychyna" (Drohobych, Lviv region) - to produce diesel fuel with a sulfur content of no more than 0.5 and 0.65% respectively until January 1, 2007.
Until now, the plants, with state permission, will be able to produce diesel fuel with a higher sulfur content than is provided for by all-Ukrainian standards. Currently, for other oil refineries, a restriction on this indicator is in effect at the level of 0.2%.
The decision of Derzhspozhyvstandart was agreed with the Ministry of Fuel and Energy and the Ministry of Environmental Protection. As Liliya Klochko, press secretary of Minpalyvenerho, told "DELO", preferential norms for diesel fuel production have been established for the aforementioned enterprises due to the fact that hydrotreating units, which allow the production of diesel fuel with a lower sulfur content, have not yet been built at "Naftokhimik Prykarpattia" and "Halychyna".
According to her data, Ivan Plachkov, Minister of Fuel and Energy, stated that the decision to extend the preferential standards for these oil refineries until the end of 2006 was adopted on the condition that they begin reconstruction of production in the near future.
Experts estimate the cost of building a diesel fuel hydrotreating unit at $60-120 million. "This depends on the capacity of the unit and the quality of the product it produces," specifies Vitaliy Daviy, an expert at the UPECO company.
Printed in the newspaper "DELO" No. 80 dated February 17, 2006.