Russian farm minister says fuel shortages threaten harvest and sowing
(Reuters) - Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said on Wednesday that fuel shortages threaten to disrupt autumn harvesting and sowing and urged a suspension of petroleum product exports, Interfax news agency reported.
Russia, one of the world's biggest oil producers, has faced shortages of fuel crucial for gathering the harvest in some parts of its southern breadbasket and the situation may get worse in coming months, according to market sources.
Traders said the fuel market has been hit by a combination of factors including maintenance at oil refineries, bottlenecks on railways and the weakness of the rouble, which incentivizes fuel exports.
Russia has tried to tackle diesel and gasoline shortages over recent months, contemplating export curbs as a last-ditch attempt to prevent a serious fuel crisis that could be awkward for the Kremlin as a presidential election looms in March.
"We already have problems with the availability (of fuel). We will now stop harvesting, and we will not sow winter crops. It will be a disaster," he was quoted as telling the joint session of parliament's monitoring and agriculture committees.
"Maybe it's time to temporarily stop exports of oil products until we stabilize the situation on the domestic market."
Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin was quoted by Interfax as saying that a draft order, which allows only fuel producers to export oil products, had already been sent to the government and the presidential administration.
He said he hoped the order on banning "grey" exports would be issued in the coming days, or "in a week at most".
Comments