MOSCOW (Reuters) -Several regions in Russia and parts of Ukraine it controls are reporting gasoline shortages after Ukraine stepped up attacks on Russian oil refineries this month, and amid a seasonal surge in fuel demand.
Russia imposed a gasoline exports ban for oil producers on July 28 in a bid to prevent shortages at a time of peak demand because of summer travel and grain harvesting. But some market participants said this will not be enough to avert a fuel crunch.
The problem is being aggravated by logistical bottlenecks, low domestic stocks and repair work at refineries, they said.
Since early August, Ukraine has targeted a number of oil refineries including Novokuibyshevsk, Syzran, Ryazan and Volgograd in response to Moscow’s missile and drone attacks.
In Russia’s far eastern region of Primorye, local media reported lines stretching back kilometres (miles) as motorists queued to fill up with gasoline. Authorities blamed an influx of tourists.
NNK, an oil company, said many of its gasoline carriers in the region were stuck in traffic jams for three to six hours at a time due to repair works on the roads, according to local media.
Yevgeny Balitsky, Moscow-appointed governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, which is mostly under Russian control, said on Thursday that gasoline retail sales in several areas were suffering problems because of peak demand and refinery maintenance.
“In the Zaporizhzhia region, the fuel shortage is further complicated by logistics issues and the threat of enemy attacks on fuel trains,” he said.
Sergei Aksyonov, the head of Crimea – which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 – also acknowledged fuel problems in an interview with a local TV station this week.
“This is an objective situation, which could last for up to a month more,” he said, while adding that the issue would not be fully resolved until the conflict ends.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
