Ministry of Agriculture is worried about a possible shortage “disaster” impacting the harvest
File photo: Combine harvesters in the fields of Rostselmash company, Rostov region, Russia © Sputnik / Sergey Pivovarov
Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev warned on Wednesday that Russian farmers might be short of fuel for the upcoming harvest and winter planting, proposing temporary export restrictions as a possible fix.
“We have a problem with fuel stocks” in several regions, Patrushev told a parliamentary committee. Without fuel, he said, the farmers will “stop the harvest and not plant the winter crops. It would be a disaster.”
Last week, Patrushev reminded lawmakers, the ministry noted an alarming rise in prices of fuel and lubricants used in farming. The problem has since evolved into the need to secure about 500,000 tons of fuel by November.
“We are now working very closely with the Ministry of Energy, we will communicate directly with oil refineries and look for the necessary volume in each region so that farmers can get it,” Patrushev said, pointing to First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin, who also attended the meeting.
Saying he was just “thinking out loud,” Patrushev suggested one of the ways to make this happen was to “temporarily stop the export of petroleum products until we stabilize the situation on the domestic market.”
Patrushev’s department has already drafted a proposal to the cabinet, asking the Energy Ministry to bar fuel dealers from exporting oil and petroleum products abroad, and only letting oil refineries do so.
The price of oil rose past $90 a barrel earlier this week, after Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to extend production cuts. Moscow has continued to export oil at a brisk pace, regardless of the attempted G7 “price cap” at $60 a barrel. As of Wednesday, the St. Petersburg commodities exchange listed premium gasoline at 75,457 rubles ($766.84) per metric ton, with regular gasoline at 66,031 ($671.05) and diesel at 70,377 ($715.21).
