Gasoline will be delivered to Russia: supplies are expected from China, South Korea and Singapore

Unscheduled repairs of the refinery led to a shortage of gasoline in some regions of the country. The government is preparing to temporarily stimulate gasoline imports and allow the use of an octane-boosting additive.

The government sees the risks of worsening the supply of oil products to Russia, and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak wrote an appeal to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. According to Kommersant, in it the Deputy Prime Minister proposes measures that will allow at least 350 thousand tons of gasoline and 100 thousand tons of diesel fuel to be sent to the domestic market per month.

"The government has already extended the embargo on gasoline exports until the end of 2025 and imposed restrictions on the export of diesel fuel. The latter will not apply to refineries. Among the additional measures indicated in the appeal is the zeroing of import customs duties in the amount of 5% on imported gasoline from China, South Korea and Singapore through certain checkpoints in the Far East. Only authorized organizations will be able to supply fuel — Rosneft, JSC NOC and the state IN "Promsyrieimport". A damper should be introduced on imported petroleum products. If the measure is applied, it will be possible to send gasoline produced at Siberian refineries in the amount of about 150 thousand tons per month to the west to maintain balance in the central part of the country,"Kommersant reports with reference to the document.

The government also proposes to increase gasoline imports from Belarus, the publication continues.

In September, the supply of Belarusian gasoline amounted to 45 thousand tons, but there is an opportunity to increase them to 300 thousand tons per month due to toll-free oil refining, the Deputy Prime Minister's address says.

Alexander Novak also suggested Mikhail Mishustin to allow the use of monomethylaniline (MMA) for six months — an octane-increasing additive used to increase the detonation resistance of gasoline.

"This will increase the production of Class 5 high-octane gasoline by adding MMA to low-octane fuel. As a result, about 50 thousand tons of gasoline per month can be additionally sent to the domestic market," Kommersant writes.

The proposed measures will allow to restore fuel reserves, but it will take time, and it is not known what the logistical costs will be, according to the analytical company OMT-Consult. At the same time, Kirill Bakhtin, a senior analyst at BCS, noted to the publication that the selected companies have contractual and logistical import capabilities and admits that there are already agreements on the prompt start of deliveries.

As EADaily reported, accidents and drone strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine at Russian refineries led to unscheduled repairs and reduced production. In this situation, the shortage of fuel is experienced especially by the south of Russia. The strongest of all is Crimea, where only independent gas stations operate. With an increase in wholesale prices, it is unprofitable for them to trade fuel at all, since they buy it on the stock exchange, where prices have set new records. In this situation, the authorities of the peninsula went so far as to agree with the owners of the gas station networks to set fixed fuel prices.