Postponement of sanctions for the lack of bioethanol in gasoline is possible for another six months – the deputy’s forecast.

Bioethanol Photo: Getty Images

In Ukraine, the punishment for those who sell gasoline, if 5% bioethanol is not added to it, can be postponed for another six months, starting from January 1, 2026 year on July 1. The head of the parliamentary committee on energy issues and housing and communal services, Andrii Gerus, informed about consideration of such a possibility at a meeting with representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce (ACC).

According to the head of the committee, the final decision on this issue will be made before the end of November. The suspension of fines should be introduced by amending the legislation. But if the fines are postponed to July 1, then from that date on those who sell fuel will be obliged to add not 5%, but 10% of bioethanol to gasoline – such an idea is “also under consideration”, Gerus noted.

“The postponement of the introduction of fines for half a year will depend on the situation with shelling, with transportation, with oil depots,” Gerus emphasized.

The People’s Deputy made this statement while answering the question of the representative of the Polish fuel importer PKN ORLEN in Ukraine, Karol Stando. The latter explained that during the discussion within the framework of the Oil and Gas Association of Ukraine, “it became clear that none of the Ukrainian importers is now ready to mix bioethanol in Ukraine.”

For his part, Andrii Gerus noted that the current legislation, although it does not provide for penalties for the absence of 5% bioethanol in gasoline, still obliges those who sell it to sell the oil product with its corresponding amount.

“Anyone who does not have 5% bioethanol in gasoline is breaking the law. And breaking the law is not good and wrong, even if there are no sanctions for it,” Gerus believes.

He also expressed his belief that the very obligation to add bioethanol to gasoline will definitely not be canceled.

We will remind you that the law provides for several levels of punishment for various violations regarding the addition of bioethanol to gasoline. For every 1,000 liters of sold gasoline that does not comply with the requirements for the normative share of bioethanol, the fine is UAH 18,168. For less than seven days of delay in providing information on the content of biofuel in sold gasoline from the places of production and wholesale – UAH 227,100. For a delay of more than seven days or the absence of such information at all – UAH 333,080.

In June 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law No. 3769-IX, introduced back in 2020, which stipulates that gasoline with an octane number of less than 98 must be sold with a 5% bioethanol content from wholesale and retail fuel outlets. The norm entered into force on May 1, 2025. In June 2025, BP postponed the establishment of penal liability for gas stations and fuel wholesalers for not adding 5% bioethanol to gasoline until January 1, 2026.

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