Fuel prices continue to rise in Russia

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The fuel crisis continues in Russia, which is associated with attacks by the Ukrainian army on oil refineries (refineries) and other oil and gas industry facilities. The first problems began in mid-May, when news appeared about the first warnings about a gasoline shortage on the wholesale market.

Against the backdrop of the crisis, Russian regions are introducing restrictions on fuel sales, and Russians themselves, as Vestka found out , began to massively search on the Internet for “how to drain gasoline.” Thus, the number of search queries by Russians on Yandex and Google about “how to drain gasoline” has increased more than tenfold over the past three months.

In which regions have restrictions been introduced?

In total, according to The Bell, restrictions were introduced in 53 regions of Russia, as well as in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Thus, in 18 regions they sell no more than 50 liters or one full tank of gasoline - similar restrictions were also introduced in occupied Sevastopol, Crimea, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR.

Here are examples of the fuel crisis in the regions:

• In the Primorsky Territory, the price of gasoline rose to 130 rubles, and diesel - to 150 rubles. At the same time, residents of Slavyanka say that there is a gas station nearby with gasoline for 71 rubles, they do not limit the volume there and allow you to pour fuel into cans, but there is always a queue there.
• In the Republic of Sakha, as well as in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region, it was prohibited to refuel canisters.
• In occupied Crimea, the sale of gasoline to private individuals, including holidays using coupons, has been stopped.

Against the backdrop of fuel shortages, business costs are also rising. Thus, a carrier from Leninogorsk sent a complaint to the Ministry of Transport of Tatarstan that the rise in gasoline prices to 80 rubles per liter makes taxi work unprofitable.

What are the authorities going to do?

According to Vedomosti, the Russian government is discussing the fuel crisis and is preparing a list of measures that can correct the situation on the market. One plan involves ensuring the import of motor fuel into Russia, but in this scenario the Ministry of Finance will have to adjust the damping mechanism in the fuel market.

Another measure is the possibility of producing petroleum products in Russia with characteristics that slightly deviate from the current technical regulations, the publication writes.

At the same time, according to Finam analyst Sergei Kaufman, ultimately the most effective options remain either increasing imports or restoring production by preventing new attacks on refineries.

The Bell's analysis notes that the Russian authorities now generally have mechanisms to deal with the crisis. At the same time, mitigation of the deficit remains a likely scenario only for the Russian mainland - for the occupied Crimea the situation looks more complicated. There, the crisis is complicated by the fact that the Ukrainian army's attack capabilities are significantly greater and supply chains are disrupted.