Fuel rationing hits Crimea, Siberia and the Caucasus as Russia blames drone strikes on refineries and panic buying. Export bans and QR-code limits follow.
Dear readers and subscribers,
You've probably heard and seen some videos, including my own notes (below), about Russia's gasoline shortage. Today, I'd like to provide you with the most up-to-date and accurate information I've gathered from reliable sources, so you can get the best information possible on the subject without sugarcoating anything.
Ten days ago, gasoline simply wasn’t sold to the public in Crimea.
By June 21, all civilian gasoline sales in Crimea were suspended, with fuel provided only to government agencies. 95-Octane now runs up to 300 roubles a liter, and lines remain very long.
“Gasoline appears, this is already a good sign,” Sergey Vinnik, a correspondent for Rossiyskaya Gazeta in Simferopol, told Business FM, describing lines of cars and a black market of resellers operating through social media groups.
Purchases are capped at 20 liters per car per day; canisters are still off-limits.
Authorities are actively targeting resellers who deliver gasoline by taxi, though black-market groups continue to operate openly online.
In Sevastopol, a QR-code system allowed up to 20 liters per vehicle, with occasional increases to 40 liters at remote stations, and prices were generally below 200 rubles/liter. “The number of cars in the city has significantly decreased,” resident Ivan Komelov said. “Public transportation mostly, yes, is how most people are now getting around.”
The shortage isn’t confined to the peninsula. In Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has now offered the clearest official explanation yet for why Russia’s fuel market is straining nationwide, and it points well beyond Crimea’s own supply chain.
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