The Russian government will ban the export of gasoline to other countries starting March 1 for six months. The restrictions were imposed after a series of attacks by the Armed Forces on Russian oil refineries — the consequences cannot be quickly corrected due to Western sanctions.
This is reported by the Russian propaganda media, the Russian service of Radio Liberty and Mediazona with reference to the representatives of the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak.
The restrictions are being introduced to keep prices down during a season of increased demand for fuel amid cutbacks in production. In addition, it is expected that Russian refineries will be obliged to sell 16% of diesel fuel on the exchange. Now they only sell 12.5%.
At the same time, the ban on the export of gasoline will not affect the EAEU countries, Mongolia and Uzbekistan, as well as the occupied South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
At the beginning of 2024, Ukrainian special services and intelligence organized a series of attacks on Russian oil refining facilities. In particular, there were strikes on the oil depot in Klintsy, Bryansk region, the Rosneft oil refinery in Tuapse, the oil terminal in Ust-Luz, and the Slavnafta-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl. Also, on February 3, drones attacked Volgograd Lukoil. Against this background, the exchange prices for gasoline AI-92 and AI-95, as well as for summer diesel fuel, have increased by 8-23% since the beginning of the year.
- Oil refining in the Russian Federation is also being reduced, as Russian plants are suffering losses due to Ukrainian drone attacks.