Russia Allows Sale of Lower-Grade Fuel Until 2027

The Russian government has permitted the production and sale of gasoline with reduced environmental classes K2–K4 (Euro-2, Euro-3 and Euro-4) until 1 July 2027. The announcement was made on Wednesday, 5 August, via the Telegram channel of Russia’s Energy Ministry.

At the same time, authorities revoked a previous decision that had allowed circulation of K5-class gasoline with higher sulphur content until the end of 2026. The ministry said that information about the fuel’s environmental class would be displayed at petrol stations “in a visible form”.

The ministry stressed that the measure is temporary and part of “anti-crisis actions” designed to balance fuel quality requirements with the need to ensure availability for consumers.

The fuel crisis in Russia has been caused by systematic Ukrainian military strikes on oil refineries and energy infrastructure. The situation sharply worsened in late May, when Moscow’s Kapotnya refinery — which supplies about 40% of the capital’s fuel — was hit twice within a week and taken offline until late 2026 or early 2027.

According to Reuters, Russian gasoline production fell 25% in June 2026 compared with June 2025, to 85,000 tonnes per day, while summer consumption stands at 110,000 tonnes per day. Official sales restrictions have been introduced in more than 40 regions.

Allowing lower fuel standards enables the use of naphtha without deep processing, potentially bringing on stream capacities unable to produce higher-quality fuel and significantly simplifying production. NEFT Research communications director Dmitry Prokofiev estimates this could add hundreds of thousands of tonnes to monthly output, but is unlikely to fully compensate for lost volumes. For many modern vehicles, using fuel of lower environmental classes may be unsafe.