Russia on Tuesday announced a six-month ban on gasoline exports starting March 1 to offset increased demand from consumers and farmers and to allow scheduled maintenance work at refineries.

The ban, which was first announced by RBC, was confirmed by the spokesman of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Novak, reports Agerpres.

The Russian authorities were forced to take such a measure by Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries in Russia, notes The Moscow Times.

Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has attacked at least nine Russian facilities with drones, including oil refineries, oil depots and gas terminals in Bryansk, Kursk, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, Leningrad, Krasnodar regions and St. Petersburg.

As a result of the attacks, gasoline exports fell 37 percent in January and diesel sales fell 23 percent, Russia’s Energy Ministry said.

The Russian authorities assure that there are no problems in the domestic market

The ministry explained that the drop in exports is related to “unscheduled repairs” at the refinery and the need to ensure the domestic market.

The Ministry of Energy of Russia assured that there are no problems with the supply to the domestic market and there will not be, and the stocks of diesel and gasoline are significant.

If the attacks continue at their current intensity, “an inconvenience could turn into a problem,” said Serhiy Vakulenko, a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Oil refineries are important for the economy and warfare – cars and trucks, tractors and combines, tanks and ships, civilian and military aircraft should be fueled with gasoline, diesel and kerosene, not crude oil,” Vakulenko said.

Russia previously banned gasoline exports from September to November 2023 to ease fuel shortages and rising domestic prices. Only four former Soviet states – Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan – were exempted.

This time, the ban will not apply to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and two regions that have declared independence from Georgia and are supported by Russia: Abkhazia and South Ossetia.