Russian President Vladimir Putin convened a crisis meeting on Sunday over Russia’s current fuel supply problems, with an eye to mitigating the effects of repeated Ukrainian attacks on refineries and other oil industry facilities.
“We have to reduce the consequences of terrorist attacks on our civilian facilities and infrastructure,” Putin was quoted as saying by the state news agency TASS.
Representatives of various ministries and of Russia’s most important oil producers took part in the meeting.
Ukraine’s recently intensified attacks on Russia’s oil industry have led to serious supply problems.
“There are queues at petrol stations, and the types of petrol needed are not always in stock,” Putin said.
He confirmed that a ban on diesel fuel exports was already being considered. Russia had meanwhile begun tapping into its petroleum reserves.
Putin expected a significant increase in production of the main types of fuel as early as July. “The extraordinary tasks at hand will be solved, clearly, swiftly and competently, in the interests of the country and our citizens,” he said, setting out a clear course for producers and ministries.
The constant Ukrainian attacks on oil facilities have already left deeper traces in Russians’ everyday lives. The fuel crisis, which began in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, has now spread to almost all regions of the country.
Long queues are forming at the petrol stations that are still selling petrol. In Crimea, petrol stations are no longer supplying fuel to private individuals.