The single cap was announced to the outlet Fontanka by the regional government's press service. Governor Alexander Drozdenko called the measure temporary and said the proposal came from oil companies.
The region ruled out QR codes and fuel vouchers. An odd-even system, under which cars with even-numbered plates fuel on even days of the month and odd-numbered cars on odd days, has been kept "in reserve." Vehicles belonging to medics, firefighters, school buses and emergency services with special signals will fuel out of turn.
Drozdenko described the fuel situation in the region as "difficult." According to him, the situation with AI-92 gasoline is "stabilizing: there is fuel, the forecast is positive." With AI-95 it is "still difficult — it exists, but there is less of it on the market than usual." The regional authorities are not recording a shortage of diesel fuel.
The governor urged people "not to allow panic," which, in his view, "fuels the rush in demand." According to Drozdenko, about 20% of private and small filling stations have stopped operating because they cannot buy the necessary volumes on the exchange. "According to the information available, the situation will improve in October, and the oil companies confirm this as well," he said.
According to Reuters, three of Russia's six largest diesel producers significantly cut or completely halted production in September after damage sustained in drone strikes. The Kirishi refinery in the Leningrad Region, according to the agency's sources, has completely stopped operating. The Volgograd refinery and the NORS refinery are operating at roughly a quarter of design capacity. The six largest plants — the Omsk, Kirishi, TANECO, Volgograd, NORS and Perm refineries — account for about half of Russia's diesel production.
The Moscow Times writes that St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region have become the epicenter of the worsening fuel crisis after the Kinef plant sustained damage to both of its oil refining units on August 30 and halted operations. In St. Petersburg, according to Fontanka, gasoline began being sold right in the queues at filling stations — one seller asked 120 rubles per litre of AI-95 with delivery to an address, and up to 150 rubles.