After drone attacks: Russia imposes ban on export of diesel

Drivers sometimes stand in kilometer-long queues at Russian gas stations to get fuel. Nowak spoke of a tense market situation. The background is that Ukraine recently put numerous oil processing plants out of operation with drone attacks in its defense against the Russian invasion.

More imports

Because of terrorist attacks on energy facilities, some refineries were damaged and gasoline production was cut, said Nowak. The deputy head of government responsible for the energy sector reported on the cabinet’s support measures. Russia will also begin importing fuel this month in order to ease the situation. In-house production should be stabilized by refineries postponing scheduled repairs to a later date.

The production of lower quality fuels will also be ramped up. According to Nowak, the crisis is worsening due to the beginning of the harvest season and higher demand for gasoline from drivers.

Moscow had already imposed a ban on the export of gasoline in April. Nevertheless, many gas stations no longer sell fuel, and others only provide it in limited quantities.

Putin sees no major problem

Putin himself once again tried to downplay the economic problems caused by the war against Ukraine that he ordered. Kiev is trying to damage the Russian economy and create nervousness in the country by striking the energy infrastructure. “All of us here understand that this task is impossible,” said the Kremlin chief. Russia’s energy sector has one of the largest security buffers in the world. It is only necessary to organize work with the oil companies in such a way that they do not keep excess fuel as a reserve for their own gas station chain, but rather share it with independent providers, Putin ordered. The current bottlenecks are temporary.

With its strikes against Russian refineries, Ukraine has hit a significant portion of its processing capacity. The fuel crisis that originally began in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, has now affected almost all regions of the country.