From today, the Russian export duty on petroleum products supplied to Ukraine has increased to a record amount - $146.9 per ton. \nAs the Kommersant newspaper writes, in connection with this, wholesale prices for gasoline and diesel fuel will increase by 10-15%. According to experts surveyed by the publication, in order to reduce the influence of importers on prices, the new government will be forced to introduce duties on imported petroleum products. It is noteworthy that in this way Yulia Tymoshenko will have to agree to the cancellation of her own decision. \nExperts believe that the rise in prices for imported petroleum products will lead to higher fuel prices on the domestic market. Thus, according to the deputy director of the Psyche scientific and technical center, Hennadiy Ryabtsev, already by the beginning of August the price of petroleum products will rise by 5-7%. The Moscow office of LUKOIL agrees with him. "Of course, the increase in prices for fuel imported into Ukraine will lead to a rise in prices on Ukraine's domestic market, according to our forecasts, by seven to eight percent," the press service of OAO LUKOIL stated. \nLet us recall that from June 2005 to June 2006, the share of imported petroleum products on Ukraine's domestic market grew from 5-7% to 30-35%. This happened after the cancellation in late May 2005 of the protective 20-percent duty on fuel imports. In this way, Yulia Tymoshenko's government tried to lower prices for petroleum products, which had risen by 17-19% in one month. As a result of the cancellation of duties, imported fuel became 15-20% cheaper than Ukrainian fuel. And oil refineries from January to June 2006 reduced processing volumes by 24.8% compared to the same period last year (to 5.9 million tons). \nLet us note that the coalition's activity program announced on Thursday states that the new Cabinet intends within three months to introduce changes to Ukraine's customs tariff and the law "On Rates of Excise Duty and Import Duty on Certain Goods," introducing a barrier 25-percent duty on imports of gasoline and diesel fuel into Ukraine. "Thus the coalition is meeting the oil refiners halfway, who in response have committed to providing the market with a sufficient amount of fuel at acceptable prices," claims People's Deputy from the BYuT faction Mykhailo Volynets. Mr. Volynets' words were confirmed by the chairman of the board of OAO Halychyna, Oleksandr Lazorko. According to him, at the beginning of last week, representatives of the largest oil companies met with People's Deputies from "Our Ukraine" and agreed on supplies of fuel at low prices in exchange for the introduction of a duty. \n