More and more gas stations will open and sell fuel, as enough gasoline and diesel fuels are delivered to Ukraine to meet the daily needs of citizens.
"I ask all citizens of Ukraine to keep calm, so that we can saturate all gas stations, create an appropriate reserve and be more protected from the actions of the enemy," Shurma said.
The deputy head of the OPU added that the state will create an additional strategic supply of fuel that will be implausible to bomb and destroy. It will ensure the availability of petroleum products for the months ahead.
"De facto, we have to build the infrastructure of oil supplies across our western borders from scratch, from our western partners," Shurma said.
He reminded that the invaders were deliberately destroying the domestic fuel infrastructure from the first day of the invasion of Ukraine. This includes the bombing of Kremenchug refinery (the largest producer of petroleum products), as well as dozens of oil depots. Supplies from the Mozyr Oil Refinery were suspended, and the Black Sea, which was a significant supply channel for diesel and gasoline, was cut out.
Rostislav Shurma said that in peacetime, Ukrainians used about 1 million tons of diesel, gasoline and liquefied gas per month. In the current difficult situation, the existing railway infrastructure and rolling stock in Eastern Europe are not yet able to cope logistically with the import of such a volume of petroleum products.
"Imports have increased more than five times compared to a month and a half ago. Today, imports actually correspond to the rate of daily consumption of gasoline and diesel at gas stations," Shurma added.
In the end of April the President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that the government will solve a problem of deficit of fuel within one-two weeks.