Gasoline sales have been restricted in annexed Crimea
30 May 08:18
The authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea have restricted sales of A-95 gasoline. Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed “head” of the region, announced on social media that starting May 30, residents are allowed to purchase no more than 20 liters of A-95 gasoline once per day. Aksyonov also asked local residents “not to stockpile gasoline.” This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing Russian propaganda media.
Crimea’s “Ministry” of Fuel and Energy began publishing information on its website about the availability of various grades of gasoline at gas stations. According to its data, by the evening of May 29, A-95 was unavailable at most of the 148 listed gas stations.
That same morning, the “governor” of annexed Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, announced that A-92 and A-95 gasoline was “temporarily” unavailable at the city’s gas stations due to “logistical difficulties.” He also stated that there was a shortage of diesel fuel. A week earlier, on May 22, the “authorities” of Sevastopol had already imposed the same restrictions, which now apply to the entire Crimea—no more than 20 liters per car or canister.
On May 24, limits on fuel sales to a single buyer were introduced at gas stations in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
All major oil refineries in central Russia have been damaged
On May 20, Reuters reported, citing official data and its own sources, that in central Russia, virtually all major oil refineries were forced to suspend or reduce fuel production following Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks.
The combined capacity of the refineries that have fully or partially suspended operations exceeds 83 million tons per year, or about 238,000 tons per day. According to the agency’s anonymous sources, this accounts for about a quarter of all oil refining in Russia—more than 30% of gasoline and about 25% of diesel fuel.
Economist Vyacheslav Shiryayev noted on May 29 during the DW News Show that only 45% of Russia’s gasoline production capacity remains operational.
“Every day, people send me information about where there is no gasoline, where they are limiting purchases to 15 liters per person. And this is practically all of Russia’s central regions.”
According to Shiryaev, if Ukraine continues its attacks on Russian refineries, the fuel crisis will paralyze Russia as early as June.
In addition, Ukrainian forces have recently been actively attacking the land corridor route from the occupied regions of Ukraine to Crimea.
