Fuel Crisis in Russia: 83 Regions Now Face Sales Restrictions

Russia's Fuel Shortage Worsens

According to ХВИЛЯ: A severe fuel shortage has hit most of Russia's regions, driven by damage to oil refineries and newly imposed sales caps. Despite Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees energy policy, claiming that the domestic market is well-supplied and that diesel is actually in surplus, experts remain deeply skeptical. Analyst Mikhail Krutikhin directly contradicted the official line, stating that Novak and other government officials

“are lying, plain and simple - they are lying.”

Fuel Sales Restricted Across the Country

Sales limits on gasoline and diesel have now been enacted in 83 regions, including those in occupied Ukrainian territories. In four districts of Tomsk Oblast, all major fuel types are running out. Kaliningrad Oblast has capped gasoline purchases at 30 liters per tank and diesel at 60 liters. In Irkutsk Oblast, farmers report a diesel shortage that is crippling agricultural work.

“Don’t expect any harvest this year - we won’t be able to gather it. We have no diesel to run the machines,”

one farmer warned.

Amid these troubles, Moscow is negotiating to import 50,000 tons of 92-octane gasoline from Belarus. Data shows that Belarusian fuel deliveries in the first half of June surged 51-fold year-on-year. However, after meeting its own domestic needs, Belarus has only about 13 million tons of fuel left annually for export.

In Russia’s Far East, Rosneft’s refineries in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Khabarovsk continue to operate, but they ship crude oil to China at steep discounts. China is also in talks to purchase refined fuel. Meanwhile, 25% of the fuel that Russia previously exported has vanished from the market, and an additional 20% of total production has been cut. Krutikhin predicts that after Crimea, Moscow itself will be next in line for severe shortages, as domestic gasoline supply is now below 80% of demand.

Russia’s major refineries are concentrated in its European part. Among those damaged are facilities in Moscow, Ryazan, Yaroslavl, Volgograd, three plants near Samara, and a refinery in Perm. The Kstovo plant near Nizhny Novgorod, which used to produce up to 12% of all Russian gasoline, has also been affected. Crimea has declared a state of emergency, underscoring the gravity of the nationwide fuel crisis.

Krutikhin further noted that the root cause is not panic but broken logistics and destroyed production capacity. He argued that the government lacks the tools to fix the situation and will eventually be forced to halt diesel exports.

Russia’s fuel shortage signals deep trouble in its energy sector, with potentially long-term economic consequences. If restrictions persist and output continues to fall, agriculture and other industries will suffer even more. Talks with Belarus about fuel imports may offer a temporary fix, but reliance on external suppliers highlights the fragility of Russia’s economy under international isolation. Given the severe logistical hurdles and destroyed infrastructure, the government’s next moves will be critical to stabilizing the situation.

As the fuel crisis intensifies across Russia, the situation is further complicated by recent events, such as the disruption of Moscow's sole refinery, which has been put out of operation for six months due to drone strikes. This incident highlights the vulnerabilities in the country's energy infrastructure and the potential for exacerbating the already dire fuel shortages experienced in numerous regions.