Russia increases fuel imports from Belarus after Ukraine attacks refineries

Reuters reports this with reference to four industry sources.

The agency points out that Russia is usually an exporter of fuel and its supplier to international markets, but the failure of Russian oil refining has forced oil companies to import gasoline.

Russia has already banned gasoline exports since March 1 to try to ensure enough fuel for the domestic market after repeated attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian refineries since the beginning of the year

Russia typically imports very small amounts of fuel from Belarus, although it did turn to official Minsk in August-October 2023 when it faced a shortage, leading to skyrocketing gasoline prices and another ban on oil exports.

This year, Russia has again increased its imports of gasoline from Belarus, reaching almost 3 thousand tons in the first half of March.

For comparison, in February Russia imported 590 tons, and in January there were no supplies from Belarus.

Two industry sources said that discussions on further imports are taking place between the governments of Russia and Belarus and oil companies. One of the interlocutors claims that these negotiations are difficult, as Belarus prioritizes exporting its fuel to international markets.

In response, Russian oil companies may increase oil supplies to Belarusian refineries in exchange for additional oil products to be delivered to Russia.

• On March 13, it was reported that in two days Ukrainian drones attacked Russian oil refineries, damaging 12% of Russia's oil refining capacity.

• On March 23, it became known that residents of Novokuibyshevsk, Samara region, reported a fire near a Rosneft oil refinery after a drone strike. Ukrainian intelligence reported an "incident".

• On March 24, a video of an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on the Kuibyshev oil refinery in Samara, Russia, which took place on the morning of March 23, was released.

• On March 25, it was reported that in the Russian city of Samara, the Kuibyshev Oil Refinery halted one of its two CDU-5 primary processing units after a drone attack. This put half of the refinery's capacity out of commission.