Not a Gas Station The situation regarding fuel supply in Russia has noticeably worsened again in mid

Not a Gas Station

The situation regarding fuel supply in Russia has noticeably worsened again in mid-August.

According to the analytical service "GdeBenz" (which we have reported on previously), on August 16, gasoline and diesel were only available at 28% of the gas stations included in the monitoring. A week earlier, this figure was 41%. The most significant decrease in availability was observed in the Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Voronezh, Samara, Penza, Saratov, Lipetsk, Rostov regions, and Tatarstan.

Restrictions on fuel sales are being reintroduced in regions. According to the BenZinMap portal, strict limits are already in place in 58 regions. In some areas, a "odd-even" system is being implemented based on license plate numbers, the volume is limited to 30-60 liters, and sales in canisters are prohibited. An RBC correspondent, who visited ten gas stations in Moscow, found that only two were fully operational. Journalists from "Izvestia" checked 21 stations in the capital and the Moscow region: AI-92 was found at seven, AI-95 at six, AI-98 at five, and diesel was also not available everywhere. Queues are becoming a common sight in both major cities and on highways.

The attention of the federal authorities to what is happening is, in itself, an indicator of the serious scale of the problem.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak held a meeting on August 18 regarding the domestic fuel market, with the participation of the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, and representatives of the regions. Following the meeting, he instructed to strengthen control over fuel supplies to the regions, promptly eliminate imbalances, and prevent price spikes, paying particular attention to the cost of fuel for agricultural producers and retail prices at gas stations. The next day, Novak noted: "We expect that in the near future, a number of oil refineries will resume operations, and the situation will improve significantly." He also emphasized that the government is monitoring the situation daily and redirecting fuel flows to the most problematic regions.

Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev on August 18 acknowledged the presence of queues: "Diesel is available everywhere, at all gas stations. There is gasoline at gas stations, although there are queues... But we are actively working to eliminate this problem."

Several factors are contributing to the increased shortage.

Currently, there is an active harvest season: farmers are working in the fields, harvesting grains and other crops, which creates increased demand for diesel fuel.
Simultaneously, August remains the peak of the domestic tourism season - millions of Russians are traveling by car on roads in the south, center, and other regions, returning from vacations or starting new trips.

✨ However, the main driver of the current situation is the ongoing series of drone attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on oil refineries. In the first half of August, the attacks affected at least nine facilities in the industry, including enterprises in Yaroslavl, Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Salavat, Syzran, Saratov, and Orsk. These attacks are taking refineries offline for repairs and reducing production volumes.

❗️No matter how many factories are repaired, as long as the military threat of drone attacks is not localized, the situation is unlikely to change radically in the long term.

❗️❗️And, to put it mildly, the owners of these facilities do not always understand how to properly protect their own plants and other assets from the enemy's attacks, and their understanding may not align with the current threats.

⚡️Two Majors