Russia extended its gasoline export ban until the end of 2026, while restrictions on diesel exports will be lifted “as the market recovers,” Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on July 25.

Speaking at the Russia-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum in Omsk, Novak told TASS that once the domestic market is supplied, Russia will need to export diesel fuel to keep refineries operating at full capacity.

“The gasoline ban will be extended for all market participants,” Novak said. He did not specify when the diesel ban could be lifted.

Novak said the situation in Russia is gradually stabilizing, although problems remain in some regions.

“A number of refineries have returned to operation. The balance is now better, and the situation at stations, including agricultural producers, is significantly better,” Novak said in a televised interview with the newspaper Izvestiya.

According to Russia-based market sources, several refineries have resumed sales on the St. Petersburg exchange and restarted operations, including Taneco, Taif, Volgograd, Ryazan, Moscow, Omsk and Norsi. Others, including Kirishi, Astrakhan, Salavat and the Samara refinery hub, remain absent as sellers.

Novak also said, in comments broadcast on the Yunashev Live Telegram channel, that the decision to allow Euro 3 fuel is temporary and will remain in place until the domestic market is adequately supplied. Russian refineries will return to producing only Euro 5-spec fuel once they are operating at full capacity.

In early July, Russia’s government allowed the sale of gasoline and diesel meeting Euro 3 specifications rather than Euro 5, in an effort to secure additional volumes of motor fuel for the domestic market.

Russia imposed a full ban on gasoline exports from April 1, and introduced a ban on diesel exports from July 9. Both measures were due to expire at the end of July. Exports of jet fuel remain banned until the end of November.

The export restrictions were introduced after intensified Ukrainian attacks took major Russian refining capacity offline. The resulting fuel shortages caused queues and rationing at stations across the country and forced Russia to import refined products. The latest extension keeps those emergency measures in place for longer than originally planned, underscoring how closely the government is tying export policy to domestic supply conditions.

The long-range ship Garnet arrived at Russia’s port of Vitino in the White Sea on June 25-26, marking the first confirmed shipment of Indian fuel to Russia since Indian oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in early July that India had the capacity to send oil products to Russia, without disclosing any agreements.

According to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data, Garnet received its 356,000-barrel gasoline cargo in a July 7 transshipment near the Egyptian port of Said from the vessel Agni, which had loaded the fuel at India’s Vadinar terminal on June 24.

Novak also said on July 25 that Russia had agreed to import fuel from Kazakhstan, although details of the deliveries remain limited.

“In the current situation, our colleagues and I have agreed that the surplus in Kazakhstan, although small in volume, can be supplied to Russia if necessary,” Novak said in an interview broadcast by Rossiya-1.

Source: Platts