Construction workers, technicians, and even doctors are no longer able to reach some workplaces.

A ban on fuel sales has been imposed in temporarily occupied Crimea. Against the backdrop of these restrictions, local business representatives are reporting difficulties with logistics, the supply of goods, and the operation of individual enterprises. 

According to Cemaat , representatives of Crimean business are already counting losses and declaring the inevitability of collapse.

“The ban on fuel sales means that all distribution deliveries will simply have to stop. They have to be delivered from the warehouse to the retail store somehow. But how? So far, there are some stocks at the enterprises, so the shelves will not be empty immediately. But this is a week, ten days at most. And then, I think, the mass closure of grocery stores will begin,” predicts an employee of a supermarket chain.

According to the driver of one of the Simferopol logistics companies, there are still fuel reserves. As soon as the problems with gasoline and diesel fuel began, the management bought it in advance as a reserve. Now all the company’s cars have full tanks, and each driver also has about 200 liters in canisters. At the same time, according to the driver, these reserves will not last long.

“We are still traveling, but almost all long-distance applications have already been canceled. The management does not say what will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, when the solar energy runs out. And it is not only here. My brother works as a pharmacist in a pharmacy, and his application for a medicine refill was not accepted today,” the Crimean complains.

The silence of the authorities is causing particular indignation among people. The fact that instead of introducing a state of emergency, the occupation administration declared a so-called “fuel lockdown” does not add to optimism.

According to a lawyer for one of the Crimean companies, the self-proclaimed “Head of the Republic of Crimea” Serhiy Aksenov did not dare to declare a state of emergency. Such a step automatically entails the cancellation of tax deductions, the possibility of demanding compensation, and generally translates the situation into the legal plane of liability for the consequences.

“There’s nothing like that right now – they just posted a video where some man claims that gasoline can’t be bought or sold now. I haven’t seen any order or decree yet,” the lawyer says.

The first effects of the fuel crisis were felt by the resort and tourism sectors. Some vacationers, having just learned about the restrictions on fuel sales, decided to end their vacations early.

“I wasn’t feeling very well, and now half of the guests have left with leftover fuel. They say: hurry home, before they come to drain the tanks, something will happen to them,” complains the owner of a mini-hotel in the village of Malorichenske, located in the Yalta district.

Restaurant and coffee shop owners are also outraged.

“Now at least close it, because you can’t bring in the products, the cooks can’t get there, and visitors won’t be able to walk to my cafe, it’s on the outskirts,” says an entrepreneur from Bakhchisaray.

Some construction workers, technicians, and even doctors can no longer get to work.

According to the owner of a dental clinic in Yalta, half of the doctors at the medical facility have not come to work because their cars simply have no way to drive. At the same time, patients are “coming to the clinic on their last drop.” The owner of the clinic is worried about what he will do when the diesel generator, which powers the refrigerator with medicines during power outages, runs out.

According to an engineer from one of the Crimean utility companies, the residents of the peninsula can forget about generators, as well as “about normal life in general.”

“No gas means no light. Because it is generated by burning gas. And when there is no light, it means no water supply, sewage disposal, normal communication, lighting in operating rooms, and much more, without which there is a total collapse of the systems necessary for normal life,” says the engineer, adding that “we must flee Crimea now.”

(C)UNIAN 2026