Russia is seeking to offset its growing gasoline shortage by increasing fuel imports from allied countries. In addition to supplies from Belarus, Moscow is negotiating with Kazakhstan to purchase around 50,000 metric tons of AI-92 gasoline and is preparing to launch large-scale gasoline imports from India.
To stabilize the domestic fuel market, the State Duma has drafted amendments to the Tax Code that would provide government subsidies to oil companies importing gasoline. The compensation scheme for imports from outside the Eurasian Economic Union will be based on fuel prices in India and transportation costs.
According to Reuters, Russia is also discussing a possible fuel swap with Kazakhstan, exchanging aviation fuel for gasoline. However, scheduled maintenance at Kazakh refineries and the shutdown of Russia’s TANECO refinery following a drone strike could complicate these plans.
Analysts estimate that Russia’s gasoline shortage has reached roughly 20% of domestic demand. Following repeated attacks on oil refineries, the country’s gasoline production has fallen by about 25% compared with the same period last year.
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