Amid the fuel crisis: Russians are being offered the chance to fill up in China
6 July 04:58
Dozens of ads offering to refuel cars in China have appeared in chat rooms in cities across the Transbaikal Region of the Russian Federation. This service began to be offered amid a fuel shortage. In particular, residents of Zabaikalsk and Chita are being promised that their cars will be driven to Chinese Manchuria, refueled, and returned to their owners. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing Russian propaganda media.
The cost of fuel in the ads ranges from 66 rubles per liter of diesel (when paying in yuan) to 97 rubles per liter of AI-95 gasoline. It is also possible to fill jerry cans with a capacity of up to 10 liters, though their passage through Chinese customs is not guaranteed.
The Zabaikalsky Krai has been experiencing an acute fuel shortage since June 25. The region is under a state of heightened alert; gasoline sales to individuals are limited to 15 liters per day, and lines stretching for many kilometers have formed at gas stations—lines that are even visible from space.
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On July 1, the Trans-Baikal Territory government described the fuel supply situation as “extremely tense.” Regional Governor Alexander Osipov said that people are spending a lot of time waiting for gasoline; he promised to introduce electronic queues, more actively involve the police in maintaining order at gas stations, and organize hot meals and water deliveries.
As part of efforts to combat the fuel crisis, regional authorities also planned to restrict the movement of all trucks, except for fuel tankers, within the region and through the “Zabaikalsk” is one of the key routes for importing goods from China. However, following intervention by federal authorities, these plans were canceled.
By July, disruptions in gasoline and diesel supplies—caused by Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries—had affected virtually all of Russia. Official restrictions on fuel sales are in effect in 41 regions, according to Reuters.
Earlier, it was reported that Russians had begun traveling to Kazakhstan for gasoline, prompting Kazakh authorities to tighten border controls to stop the export of fuel. Mobile patrols are operating around the clock in border areas, and tanker trucks and fuel tankers are undergoing thorough inspections. Over the past two days, 61 attempts to smuggle more than three metric tons of fuel in auxiliary tanks and jerry cans were thwarted at border crossings, said Yerzhan Birzhanov, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Finance.
In Kazakhstan, a liter of gasoline costs about 300–350 tenge (45–55 rubles), while the average price of AI-95 in Russia is 74.4 rubles per liter. Meanwhile, amid the fuel crisis, the price of gasoline at some gas stations has already exceeded 100 rubles.
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