Russia's fuel crisis is out of control: authorities are returning to 1990s gasoline standards, Ukrainian TV channel FREEDOM reported.
The crisis is not only affecting passenger cars, there are problems with public transport in a number of regions of the federation.
Russian authorities are trying to contain the crisis with emergency decisions: Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree allowing the production of gasoline with reduced sulfur content requirements, as was the case in the 1990s.
The consequences of the war are already being felt in the capital, Moscow, and citizens are unhappy. Normally, the capital region is supplied with fuel from four refineries, but all of them were damaged as a result of strikes by Ukrainian forces.
A resident of Moscow is outraged: “How come there is no gasoline, we extract oil ourselves?”
“I have already passed over 15 gas stations and you know what? That's right! There is no gasoline anywhere, at least 95. I am ready to wait in line and pay twice as much“, another resident of Moscow noted on social networks.
The situation with the queues at gas stations is getting worse. People are already fighting for fuel.
Russia is facing a situation where fuel is becoming less and less. There is also such a historical analogy with what happened in 1917. How did the revolution begin? With fights in bread queues, due to a lack of bread. Now there is no fuel in Russia. There are already fights in gas stations.
Currently, over 40 regions of the Russian Federation have official restrictions on the sale of gasoline, while in other fuel companies or citizens themselves report outages. There is also an acute shortage in the Far East.
According to The Moscow Times, authorities in 12 Russian regions have been forced to limit public transport.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law amending the Tax Code aimed at stimulating the supply of fuel to the domestic market against the backdrop of acute shortages caused by Ukrainian drone attacks, Reuters reported.
One of the main changes provides for the introduction of an excise duty mechanism on motor gasoline produced by mixing straight-run gasoline with other components. The law recognizes the production of high-octane gasoline by blending for fuel production within the meaning of tax legislation. Taxpayers who have a certificate for the processing of petroleum raw materials will be granted an excise duty deduction, including for the production of gasoline by blending, TASS reported, BTA reported.
Putin ignored the shortage of fuel in the country, one of the leading oil producers, saying it was "not critical", rejected proposals for a ceasefire and stressed that the war would continue until its goals were achieved, the AP agency reported.
After Russia's gasoline production fell by about 17 percent to 850,000 barrels per day, according to government data, fuel rationing was introduced in many regions, forcing drivers to wait in lines for hours to fill up. Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, is facing the worst fuel shortage crisis. Gasoline sales to individuals there have periodically been suspended altogether.