Russia has introduced temporary restrictions on exports of gasoline and diesel in order to stabilize the domestic market, the government said on Thursday.
“Temporary restrictions will help saturate the fuel market, which in turn will reduce prices for consumers,” the government said in a statement. In recent months Russia has suffered shortages of gasoline and diesel. Wholesale fuel prices have spiked, although retail prices are capped to try to curb them in line with official inflation.
Traders say the fuel market has been hit by factors including maintenance at oil refineries, bottlenecks on railways and the weakness of the ruble, which incentivizes fuel exports.