Russia Imports Gasoline from India Amid Fuel Shortage Following Ukrainian Drone Strikes on Refineries

Russia, currently grappling with a fuel shortage due to recent concentrated Ukrainian drone attacks on its oil refineries, has begun importing gasoline from India and Kazakhstan.

According to a Reuters report on July 2 (local time), two tankers carrying 30,000 to 40,000 tons of gasoline each recently departed from India for Russia.

However, it has not yet been disclosed which Indian refinery supplied the gasoline to Russia.

Industry sources also told Reuters that Kazakhstan, a former Soviet state, will supply 50,000 tons of gasoline to Russia between July and August as a humanitarian gesture.

The gasoline supply will be handled by the Pavlodar refinery, which is part of the Kazakh state-owned energy company KazMunayGas, and the private Condensate refinery.

However, the Kazakh Ministry of Energy stated that it had not received any requests from Russian state agencies for fuel supplies as humanitarian aid.

Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly addressed the fuel shortage, noting that gasoline reserves had decreased by approximately 4 percent compared to a year ago, and the Russian parliament has passed tax reforms to support gasoline imports.

This is because fuel shortages are spreading across Russia as Ukraine continues to target Russian oil refineries with long-range drones.

This week, the Moscow Oil Refinery, which produces more than one-third of the fuel supply for Moscow and its surrounding regions, was repeatedly hit by drone attacks.

In some parts of Russia, fuel sales restrictions have been implemented, gasoline prices have soared, and long lines of vehicles have formed at gas stations.

Recently, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated, "Discussions on gasoline imports are actively underway," adding that "imports will take place if an acceptable price is agreed upon."

An industry source reported that Russia plans to import 400,000 tons of gasoline per month from various countries, including its neighbor Belarus.

Russia's gasoline consumption reaches at least 110,000 tons per day during the peak summer season.

According to Reuters estimates and industry sources, Belarus increased its rail shipments of gasoline to Russia in the first half of last month to over 70,000 tons, nearly triple the amount from the first half of May.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.