Abkhazia fuel crisis: only Russian stations have gasoline
Fuel crisis in Abkhazia
Abkhazia is facing a fuel crisis. Most petrol stations have shut down for lack of gasoline, while those that still have supplies are seeing long queues. Among them are stations run by the Russian oil and gas giant Rosneft and by Podorozhnik, a company owned by Russian businessman Eduard Khudainatov, a former head of Rosneft.
Formally, the shortage is not linked to Russia’s recently imposed ban on gasoline exports, which runs until 31 August. Moscow has said the measure was introduced “to maintain stability in the domestic fuel market during a period of high seasonal demand and agricultural field work.”
In theory, the temporary restrictions do not apply to Abkhazia. But the instability in Russia’s fuel market has hit the region hard nonetheless, since Abkhazia relies entirely on Russian supplies.
Abkhazia’s energy minister, Batal Mushba, has promised that a new shipment of Russian gasoline is expected in the coming days and will be distributed among fuel market operators.
Mushba also said the government was closely monitoring the situation and was in constant contact with Russian counterparts to resolve problems quickly.
Fuel crisis in Abkhazia
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