Russia's fragile fuel fix: looser standards, subsidies, and imports to weather refinery strikes
Russia faces a worsening gasoline shortage driven by reduced refining and Ukrainian strikes on refineries. Moscow is weighing measures such as allowing Euro-3 gasoline/diesel (lower sulfur), cutting the exchange-sale quota from 15% to 10%, and subsidizing imports through a damper mechanism—steps that could cost the budget billions and affect farmers, airlines, and independent stations as the country searches for portables to stabilize supply while tensions with Ukraine persist.