More than 150 advertisements for the sale of gas stations have appeared on marketplaces, commercial real estate websites and corporate portals in Russia over the past month, the pro-government newspaper Izvestia reported, citing data also published by Vedomosti.
Both private chains and large vertically integrated companies — Gazprom and Lukoil — are selling their stations. Owners attribute the move to a collapse in profitability caused by shortages and high prices for gasoline and diesel fuel on the exchange. Sales are taking place across Russia, from border regions to the Volga area and Siberia.
Lot prices range from 1 million to 150 million rubles, Izvestia specified. In Ufa, for example, a chain of 13 stations (gasoline, diesel, gas) is being offered for 350 million rubles. Gazprom is selling "non-core assets" in the Astrakhan, Rostov, Tambov and Nizhny Novgorod regions, with prices from 940,000 to 13.4 million rubles. Some of these stations, the company said, have been listed for sale since 2022. Lukoil has put up stations in the Tver, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk and Kaluga regions and the Perm Krai; an advertisement on Avito offers a company station in Ivanovo for 51.5 million rubles.
According to an industry source cited by Izvestia, private chains "undoubtedly have serious problems" because oil companies sell them fuel "on a residual basis." "In some regions, these volumes of fuel simply do not exist, or they exist but at very high, uncompetitive prices," the source said. Private gas stations, which in some regions have already closed due to a lack of fuel, face a choice: sell the business or suspend operations until the situation stabilizes.
Regional authorities are trying to combat the shortage with administrative measures. On July 16, the head of Mari El, Yuri Zaitsev, promised not to introduce QR codes or an odd-even system in the republic, but on the same day, stations in the region imposed a limit: no more than 25–50 liters of gasoline per tank. Pskov Oblast Governor Mikhail Vedernikov complained that there was "no rational explanation for the situation with gasoline": the volume of fuel sold had doubled, but it was still insufficient. Authorities in Chelyabinsk Oblast are organizing patrols of the busiest stations, though it is unclear who will be included in the patrols. The mayor of Neryungri, Ilya Gudoshnik, urged residents to "wait and be patient" and, if possible, switch to public transport.
The gasoline crisis, according to The Moscow Times, is partly caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refining. In early July, a Kommersant industry source said it would likely be impossible to increase the load of damaged refineries in the coming month. According to EA Analytics, in July, crude processing volumes at Russian refineries fell to lows not seen since 2005. Reuters reported that in the second week of the month, gasoline production fell by 35%, to 75,000–80,000 tons per day, compared with normal summer consumption of 115,000–120,000 tons. This has already led to disruptions in government procurement of fuels and lubricants for medical institutions, utilities and emergency services. As of the beginning of 2026, Russia had 27,700 operating gas stations, about 19,800 of them independent.