Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed Resolution No. 819 on July 2, published on the official legal information portal, allowing the circulation of Class K5 gasoline with sulfur content up to 150 mg/kg — 15 times the current limit of 10 mg/kg for the K5 (Euro-5) standard. The government described the move as “preventive measures aimed at preventing destabilization on the domestic motor fuel market.”
For diesel fuel, the permissible sulfur level has been temporarily raised to 350 mg/kg. Fuel of this quality will not be labeled with the unified market circulation mark of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and will not be produced in other member states, the resolution states.
Formally, the measure does not reintroduce Class K3 (Euro-3) gasoline. The K5 designation is retained, but the fuel is allowed to meet older sulfur standards. The current K5 (Euro-5) standard caps sulfur at 10 mg/kg.
The fuel crisis intensified in May following Ukrainian drone strikes on oil infrastructure in Russian regions. According to Reuters, gasoline production in Russia fell 25% year-on-year in June to 85,000 metric tons per day, while summer consumption stands at 110,000 metric tons per day. Restrictions on fuel sales have been officially imposed in more than 40 regions, and complaints of disruptions have come from 85 of Russia's 85 federal subjects, RBK reported.
Dmitry Prokofiev, communications director at the analytical firm NEFT Research, told Kommersant that the Euro-2 standard allows the use of naphtha as a base without deep refining and brings in capacity that cannot produce higher-quality gasoline and diesel. According to him, an additional hundreds of thousands of metric tons of fuel could enter the market each month.
Experts warn that using fuel with high sulfur content harms the environment and accelerates wear on modern vehicles. Sulfur gradually poisons catalytic converters, oxygen sensors, and diesel particulate filters. For some modern cars, using such gasoline may be unsafe, Prokofiev noted.