Russian authorities have decided to curb diesel fuel prices for farmers

The Ministry of Energy, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and the Ministry of Agriculture will begin to analyze prices for diesel fuel for farmers in different regions of the country in order to prevent changes in the terms of supply from intermediaries. This is stated in message on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers following a meeting of the headquarters on the situation on the petroleum products market, which was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

The meeting participants discussed the balance of supply and demand for different types of fuel, schedules for the decommissioning of oil refineries (ORs) from repairs and pricing policy both in large and small wholesale, and when sold at gas stations.

The desire to curb the cost of fuel for agricultural producers is due to both the increase in wholesale prices for gasoline on the St. Petersburg International Commodity Exchange (SPbMSTB) and the experience of last fall. Then the rise in stock prices led to complaints from farmers about fuel shortages throughout the country, so the problem had to be solved by banning exports.

According to the Ministry of Energy, gasoline and diesel fuel reserves in the country are consistently high, so there is currently no threat of a shortage. In turn, representatives of oil companies noted an improvement in the situation with the removal of fuel from refineries.

The increase in the number of unscheduled repairs is associated with drone attacks, which have been ongoing for two months, as well as equipment accidents. According to Rosstat, during the week from March 18 to March 24, gasoline production in Russia fell by 7.4 percent compared to the previous period.

The day before, the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant (GPP) confirmed the suspension of oil product refining. The plant's pipeline was damaged, which led to the shutdown of the condensate primary processing unit. Timeframes for troubleshooting have not been announced.