"I stopped at a gas station on the outskirts of Kursk, but could not fill up. They said there would be no fuel next week either. Is this the situation everywhere in the region?".
This text appeared today in the Telegram-channel Chernye ochki.
All of this comes amid news on August 14 that the Russian government is again banning gasoline exports, this time for six months. The decision was made to “maintain a stable situation” with the prices of gas stations on the domestic market after their significant increase, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
“The government has introduced a restriction on the export of gasoline from September 1 to December 31, 2024,” said a government statement.
This measure, taken by the end of the year, aims to “maintain a stable situation on the fuel market during the period of sustained seasonal demand and planned repairs at oil refineries”, the government explained, as quoted by bTV.
At the beginning of the year, the Russian government had already taken such a decision, which came into effect on March 1, before temporarily suspending it between May 20 and the end of July, mainly due to “domestic market saturation”.
However, the new ban will not affect “supplies made under international intergovernmental agreements, including agreements with member states of the Eurasian Economic Union” - Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.
Russia has already introduced such a measure in the fall of 2023 in response to a sharp rise in prices at gas stations, a phenomenon that is further reducing the purchasing power of Russians already affected by the weakening of the ruble as a result of the sanctions.
According to official data, in 2023, Russia produced 43.9 million tons of gasoline.
The financial windfall from the sale of hydrocarbons remains essential for Moscow at a time when its economy is focused on military efforts to support the military offensive in Ukraine.
In recent months, the Ukrainian military has struck several Russian oil depots with explosive-laden drones, depriving Moscow's forces of vital resources.