A bill establishing principles governing the exercise of certain downstream petroleum activities by an authorized Malagasy entity marks a significant shift in Madagascar's energy policy. The government's stated ambition is clear: strengthen the security of petroleum product supplies and enable the State to obtain better purchasing conditions on the international market. A laudable intention in principle, but one that raises questions, particularly regarding its operational implementation. This is for the simple reason that the import is direct only in name, since it will be conducted through an entity, probably private, specially authorized. Questions arise particularly regarding the article of the bill relating to this reform, which provides that "in order to promote the establishment of the new operator on the national market, the entity is authorized a special regime...". Advantages, in short, which could take the form of simplified administrative procedures, tax benefits, privileged access to storage infrastructure, or even a temporary monopoly on certain activities. It is also unclear what the nationality of the new operator would be, even though Transition supporters had already announced the possibility of using Russian oil operators to regulate the market. In any case, this announced favoritism may not please traditional operators already present on the petroleum distribution market, such as TotalEnergies, Vivo Energy, distributor of the Shell brand in several African countries, or Jovena. Not to mention possible reactions from donors, including the IMF and World Bank, which always keep an eye on certain principles, such as transparency in public procurement, competitive neutrality, good governance, and equal treatment between operators.