November 7, 2025

Updated: November 8, 2025

Russian authorities are preparing to allow the use of alcohol in gasoline production to increase supplies to the fuel market, which has faced shortages following drone strikes on refineries.

According to Interfax , the Ministry of Finance has prepared amendments to the Tax Code that will eliminate the excise tax on denatured ethyl alcohol used in the production of AI-92 gasoline.

The measure is intended to make gasoline production using alcohol profitable and is necessary in the event of insufficient gasoline supply on the market, Interfax sources explained. According to them, the Ministry of Finance introduced the amendments in a package of materials for the second reading of the budget law for next year, which is currently being considered by the State Duma.

According to  Kommersant , oil refineries will be allowed to increase the alcohol content in gasoline to 10% (currently, it is no more than 1.5%). According to the Ministry of Energy’s calculations, this will increase fuel supplies to the domestic market by 100,000 tons per month.

In addition to ethyl alcohol, the Ministry of Energy may lift the ban on the use of monomethylaniline (MMA) by oil refineries—an octane-boosting additive that increases output. Due to its high toxicity and cancer risks, it is banned in most countries, but was used in Russia until 2016.

Since the beginning of August, Ukrainian drones have struck 22 Russian refineries, forcing some to halt production. As a result, Russian oil refining volumes from July to September plummeted by 10%, to 4.86 million barrels per day—the lowest level in at least five years.

This resulted in a gasoline shortage that has engulfed regions from Kamchatka to Central Russia, forcing authorities in some regions to impose limits on fuel sales to individual customers. To mitigate the crisis, the government banned the export of gasoline and diesel fuel and eliminated import duties to allow gasoline purchases from China, Singapore, and South Korea.

Following the crisis in the gasoline market, problems in Russia could spill over into the jet fuel market, Maxim Dyachenko, managing partner and board member of Proleum, the country’s largest private supplier of petroleum products, told RBC in early November.

To address the oil product production crisis, the Russian government has relaxed requirements for refineries. Specifically, winter diesel fuel can now be produced by blending summer diesel fuel with kerosene. This creates the risk of a sharp rise in the price of jet fuel, which, in turn, poses risks for the aviation industry, Dyachenko warned.

(c)THE MOSCOW TIMES 2025