Fuel crisis in Abkhazia

Fuel shortage in Abkhazia

In Abkhazia there are huge lines at gas stations, and often there is no gas by the time one gets to the pump. Suppliers have explained that there are too many tourists in their own vehicles.

Gasoline of the most popular brands AI-92 and AI-95 is in very short supply. At some gas stations, these brands of gas are sold only with coupons, with coupons received mainly by employees of state institutions.

Diesel fuel is still available at gas stations, but there are fears that it, too, will soon become scarce.

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Both suppliers and the government have named the record flow of Russian tourists to Abkhazia this August the main reason, with totals far exceeding those of August 2019.

A significant number of these tourists arrive by car.

Another factor is that a tourist boom not only in Abkhazia but in neighboring Sochi has created a huge burden on the railway.

Due to the influx of vacationers, the movement of freight trains carrying fuel in southern Russia is effectively paralyzed. Passenger trains are allowed to pass, and as a result, delivery time for goods has increased from a matter of weeks to a month or more.

It has not been possible to solve the problem by supplying fuel to Abkhazia by road. Traffic jams and delays at the border have become an insurmountable obstacle.

The Ministry of Economy assures the population that the problem will be solved shortly. “There are tanks with fuel from Abkhaz companies with a total volume of about four thousand tons on the way,” the Ministry of Economy of Abkhazia said.

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