Draft amendments to Russia’s Tax Code aimed at stabilizing the fuel market would introduce budget subsidies for oil companies that purchase gasoline abroad.
The subsidies would operate under a fuel price-damping mechanism introduced eight years ago to curb retail fuel prices.
“The amount of subsidies for imported gasoline produced outside the Eurasian Economic Union will be calculated based on the indicative gasoline price on the Indian market and the cost of delivery from Indian ports,” The Moscow Times reported.
Russia’s State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes backed the bill the previous day. It could pass its second and third readings as soon as June 24, the publication said.
India became the largest buyer of seaborne Russian oil after the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
India bought 1.5 million to 2 million barrels per day last year and increased imports to a record 2.66 million barrels per day in June 2026.
India exports part of the Russian oil it purchases as refined products, including diesel, gasoil and gasoline. Indian gasoline exports reached a record 400,000 barrels per day last year, with Asian countries as the main buyers.
Indian gasoline contains 20% ethanol, Reuters reported. That is twice Russia’s standard, which permits up to 10% ethanol and was raised last year after a series of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Russia’s gasoline shortage currently amounts to 20% of domestic consumption, Reuters reported.
Russia already buys gasoline from Belarus, but those volumes are insufficient to close the gap in the country’s fuel balance, The Moscow Times reported. Belarus supplies about 3,000 to 5,000 tons per day, while Russia’s gasoline shortfall has reached 25,000 tons daily, Reuters reported.
Russia’s fuel crisis has continued to worsen following Ukrainian drone strikes on the aggressor state’s oil infrastructure.
Authorities in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia’s main oil-producing region, have introduced limits on gasoline and diesel sales.
Limits have been imposed in more than 50 Russian regions and in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Russian oil refining has fallen to its lowest level in 16 years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said June 1 that Ukrainian strikes had hit 15 Russian oil refineries since the start of 2026. Nearly 40% of Russia’s primary oil refining capacity had been put out of operation as of May, he said.
The fuel crisis has developed gradually in Russia. Border and southern regions were the first to face acute shortages of petroleum products and rapidly rising retail prices, including Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Rostov oblasts, as well as occupied Crimea and other Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
Russia’s government reinstated a ban on gasoline exports by producers through the end of July on April 2.