Russia faces fuel shortage - media

This was reported by Reuters with reference to sources on the market, Ukrinform saw.

Russia's fuel market has been affected by a combination of factors, including refinery maintenance, rail infrastructure bottlenecks, and the weakening of the ruble, which drives fuel exports.

Russia has struggled in recent months to deal with shortages of diesel and gasoline, seeing export restrictions as a last-ditch effort to avert a serious fuel crisis that is sensitive to the Kremlin ahead of presidential elections in March, the report said.

The decision of the Russian government to reduce subsidies to oil refineries is likely to hamper fuel availability across the country, writes Reuters.

Regional oil depots in the south of Russia were forced to reduce or even suspend fuel sales, while retail gas stations were forced to limit the volume of fuel sales to consumers.

One of the southern Russian traders said that in the Krasnodar Territory, Adygea, and Astrakhan, AI-92 gasoline is not being sold at retail, and AI-95 gasoline and diesel are almost non-available.

Another trader reported that there is no diesel at oil depots, and there is no diesel at retail markets for the second week in a row in the entire Samara region and Volga region.

At the same time, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak on Wednesday denied reports of fuel shortage.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Russian government is mulling a ban on gasoline exports to prevent domestic fuel shortages and price hikes following the decision to cut subsidies for refineries.

Photo: Santmyer