Vologda region governor Georgy Filimonov was forced to hitch a ride after his official car ran out of fuel on a highway bypass around Vologda, just hours after he posted a message urging residents not to panic and hoard gasoline. In the earlier post, Filimonov attributed the shortage at gas stations to a sharp spike in demand with unchanged supply volumes and assured that there would be no 'green corridors' for officials at filling stations.
Filimonov later admitted in a voice message that his car had stopped on the Vologda speed bypass with an empty tank. 'I switched from the official car to a vehicle whose driver agreed to give me a lift. By doing this, I am testifying to the fact that we are all in the same boat and are solving the existing problem,' he said. It later emerged that the driver who picked up the governor was a crew from the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Russian Interior Ministry for the Vologda region. Filimonov separately thanked the officers and congratulated them on the 90th anniversary of the state traffic inspectorate.
About 90% of gas stations in the region belong to Lukoil. The governor promised to negotiate with the company, as well as with Gazprom Neft and Tatneft, to increase fuel shipments from the oil depot.
The fuel crisis in Russia began in late May amid a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries. In the Vologda region, restrictions were introduced in late June: no more than 30 liters of gasoline per person, and only into the tank, not into canisters.
Other regions have faced similar problems. Authorities in the Nizhny Novgorod region acknowledged an 'acute shortage' of fuel, and in Chita gasoline has run out at several gas stations. In the Trans-Baikal region, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe, queues at filling stations stretch for kilometers and people wait for days. A limit of 15 liters per car has been introduced there. Some residents have switched to bicycles and electric scooters. The head of the Trans-Baikal region, Alexander Osipov, blamed the crisis on 'enemy strikes' and the coronavirus.