Irkutsk will raise fares due to fuel shortage

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The fuel crisis continues in Russia and the occupied territories, caused by attacks by the Ukrainian army on oil refineries (refineries) and tank farms across the country. As of June 25, restrictions on the sale of fuel throughout the region had already been introduced in 32 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and occupied territories.

The Insider writes that in total it was possible to record “both official and unofficial restrictions on the sale of fuel in at least 83 regions and occupied territories.”

At the official level, the authorities of Adygea, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Mordovia, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Chuvashia, Altai, Trans-Baikal, Primorsky, Stavropol and Khabarovsk territories, Amur, Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Lipetsk, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Oryol, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Tambov, Tver, Tomsk (city Strezhevoye), Tula, Tyumen and Ulyanovsk regions, as well as the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs, writes The Insider.

In addition, restrictions have been introduced in all occupied territories of Ukraine - in Crimea, “DPR”, “LPR”, as well as in the occupied parts of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

The situation is worst in the occupied territories of Ukraine. For example, in Crimea and Sevastopol there is a complete ban on the sale of fuel to the population, and in the “LPR” they sell up to 20 liters of gasoline per person.

In Transbaikalia, fuel shortages have forced local authorities to introduce even stricter restrictions. There, the sale of gasoline was limited to 15 liters per car, while the purchase of fuel in cans was completely prohibited.

Transport is becoming more expensive

From July 1 in Irkutsk, the cost of travel on city buses, trams and trolleybuses will increase from 37 to 45 rubles. The Irkutskavtotrans enterprise stated that this is due to a “sharp increase in the cost of fuels and lubricants, spare parts and the minimum wage.”

The company's management added that the real price of a transport trip in Irkutsk is now about 80 rubles and to avoid disruptions and closure of routes, the company will have to use more than 80% of the funds received from the tariff increase to index drivers' salaries in the face of their shortage.

In addition, in Irkutsk, Mayor Ruslan Bolotov promised to install dry toilets in queues at gas stations, as traffic jams are created near gas stations due to people wanting to buy fuel.

MAX is trying to ban the sale of gasoline

Against the backdrop of a fuel shortage, people began to create groups in the state messenger MAX, where residents of Vladimir, Ivanovo, Tver, Chita and Krasnokamensk looked for gasoline and monitored queues at gas stations.

Over the past two days, MAX has blocked at least five such groups. The largest of them, the “Gasoline 33” chat with 15 thousand participants, was blocked due to the alleged “lack of registration in the Roskomnadzor register.”

Later, the MAX press service said that the reasons for the blocking were “fraudulent offers to purchase gasoline.” People allegedly distributed fake QR codes and offered “illegal hand-selling of fuel.”

The management of the state messenger added that the security service “applies a lifetime block to chats and accounts that violate the rules of the platform.”

Position of the authorities

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated that “Russia now has enough fuel volumes to supply the domestic market.” According to him, “diesel reserves in Russia are now in abundance,” and an export ban is being discussed to fill the domestic market in larger volumes.

The official added that the authorities are currently trying to rebuild logistics in the fuel market in order to take into account the needs of each region. Novak claims that the boom in the Russian fuel market has “artificially increased demand” by 20–30%.

Earlier, Vedomosti wrote that 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 deviate somewhat from the current technical regulations, the publication writes.

The first problems with fuel in Russia began in mid-May, when news appeared about the first warnings about a shortage of gasoline on the wholesale market. Then a fuel shortage also occurred in retail.