Government officials reportedly get priority gasoline access in at least four Russian regions amid fuel crisis. Ordinary drivers wait hours in some areas.
Government officials are now getting priority access to gasoline in at least four Russian regions, the Russian news outlet 7×7 reported.
In Saratov, where restrictions on gasoline sales were recently extended through July 15, one Rosneft station is serving only official vehicles — and the preference extends beyond emergency services, the Saratov-based outlet Vzgliad-info reported.
But right in front of us, an employee of a district administration in Saratov filled up his car, along with drivers for the MFC [public services center] and Russian Post. One visitor gave the password needed for service: “Government.”
Journalists said no documents were requested from buyers at the station. The general limit of 30 liters (about 8 gallons) per vehicle per day still applies there, however.
Alexander Safronov, a deputy on the Krasnodar city council, used his Telegram channel to share subscriber videos filmed at a local Rosneft station where gasoline is sold only to government employees who show valid work identification.
Readers of the Yekaterinburg-based outlet EAN described a similar situation: at one Rosneft station on the Chelyabinsk–Yekaterinburg highway, ordinary customers are told there is no gasoline, while it is sold to government employees.
The Volgograd-based outlet Bloknot reported that a Gazprom station denied a local resident gasoline despite having fuel in stock, saying it was sold only to fuel card holders. Anyone can obtain such cards, but according to one customer, they are used primarily by emergency service workers and employees of the local administration.
Because of persistent Ukrainian drone attacks on oil facilities in Russia, the country’s fuel crisis continues. Restrictions on gasoline sales are in effect in nearly every region. People now wait in hours-long lines to fill up their cars.
Russian authorities maintain that the country’s fuel shortage is not critical. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the day before that Russia’s domestic market is “supplied with gasoline.”
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