A Decade of Clean-Fuel Rules Unwound
Russia has cleared the way for making, importing and selling low-grade gasoline that was outlawed more than ten years ago, the Energy Ministry announced, in the starkest sign yet of how deeply Ukrainian strikes have cut into the country’s fuel supply. A decree with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s signature allows Euro-2, Euro-3 and Euro-4 fuels back on the market through July 1, 2027.
The rollback reverses hard-won environmental policy. Russia banned Euro-2 gasoline in 2013 over its pollutant levels and finished moving the country to clean Euro-5 standards in 2016. Yet Euro-2 gasoline may hold as much as 50 times the sulfur allowed in Euro-5, and high sulfur concentrations chew up engine components and exhaust systems. Environmental experts warn that burning dirtier fuel will mean more smog and acid rain, aggravating conditions such as asthma in cities.
The ministry cast the decision as an “anti-crisis measure to strike a balance between fuel quality standards and consumer availability.” Gas stations, it said, must “clearly and visibly” label the environmental class of fuel at the pump so drivers can make an “informed choice” about what they buy.
Drone Strikes Behind the Pump Prices
The backdrop is a fuel market under sustained attack. The Moscow Times ties the shortage directly to a series of damaging Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries and storage hubs, the same campaign that has knocked out a large slice of refining capacity this year. Last month the government stretched its gasoline and diesel export ban to the end of January.
Consumers feel it in the price. Average pump prices across Russia are up 17.7% since January, and they eased by 1.4% over the past week to 77.69 rubles per liter, about $3.61 a gallon, as of Monday, August 3.
Mishustin’s Other Message
The prime minister’s office has kept up an official line of resilience. Addressing the 10th Moscow Financial Forum by video last September, Mishustin insisted the economy was holding: “Russia’s economy is gradually adapting to the current reality. And progress continues. It is felt in all areas, from social to infrastructure and technology,” he said, in remarks carried by Prensa Latina. Russia, he added, “has maintained its leadership in Europe for several years due to the size of its economy and, globally, it steadily occupies fourth place.”
The fuel decree tells a rougher story than the forum speech. A country that spent a decade scrubbing sulfur out of its gasoline is now printing permission slips to put it back, and is betting drivers will accept the trade as long as the pumps do not run dry.
Sources
- Russia Rolls Back Fuel Quality Standards to Quell Domestic Shortages – The Moscow Times
- Russian economy moves forward, Prime Minister Mishustin confirmed – Prensa Latina
