Russia began to stop harvesting due to lack of fuel

The Ministry of Agriculture is authorized to announce an impending disaster with fuel for farmers. Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev said that over the past week this problem has worsened greatly; in some regions, both harvesting and sowing of winter crops have even been suspended. If previously the problem was high prices for diesel fuel for farmers, today some farms in Russia do not have it at all.

Today, SOS signals about a shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel are coming from many Russian regions. In particular, from Samara, Saratov, Rostov, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Novosibirsk and Ryazan regions. And also from Crimea, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories and Karelia. Deficiencies have also been recorded in new Russian territories. Thus, in Donetsk, gasoline prices have risen to 61 rubles per liter, and not every gas station can be used to refuel.

To resolve the situation, the Minister of Agriculture proposed to completely stop the gray export of petroleum products until the domestic market stabilizes. In total, to successfully complete autumn field work, Russian farmers need about 500 thousand tons of fuels and lubricants.

The Russian Ministry of Energy a week ago promised to restore order in its industry within 14 days. But the cart, as they say, is still there. First Deputy Minister Pavel Sorokin said that the Ministry of Energy’s bill on banning gray exports has been submitted to the government and the presidential administration, and approval of the document is expected any day.

Only when the thunder struck did the department find out that traders were purchasing fuel on the exchange at cheap domestic prices, and selling huge volumes abroad at expensive world prices. According to the new rules, they and oil depots will be prohibited from transporting petroleum products abroad; this right will be reserved only for oil refineries.

Well, what do the farmers themselves think about this? Director of the National Rice Union Mikhail Radchenko from Krasnodar says that fuel shortages do happen in the region. They are not critical yet, but diesel prices have skyrocketed.

“75 rubles per liter, but it was 50,” he reports. – Tomorrow we will have a meeting on this matter, we need to decide how to live further…

Unlike the Krasnodar Territory, the situation in the neighboring Stavropol region is calmer. According to local farmer Vasily Lopatin, they have not yet experienced a fuel shortage; on the contrary, tempting offers are pouring in from all sides for the peasants.

– But at a price of 80-85 rubles per kilogram. If in liters, then within 75,” he continues. “We, peasants, are united in an association; we make purchases in bulk to make it cheaper and to create a supply. Well, so, they offer us more than private owners at gas stations. For them, diesel fuel is 65-66 rubles, and for us wholesale – 75.

Vasily Dmitrievich recalls that in Soviet times, Stavropol peasants sold a kilogram of wheat for 12-13 kopecks. A liter of diesel fuel then cost 4 kopecks.

– For a kilogram of bread you could buy 3 kilograms of fuel. But now, on the contrary, to buy a kilogram of diesel fuel, you need to sell 6 kilograms of wheat…

By the way, the current prices for grain grain bread are not encouraging. At first, the price for 4th grade wheat on the market was 15-16 rubles excluding VAT; just yesterday they dropped to 12-12.5 rubles. Sunflower seeds are also becoming cheaper – from 28 rubles per kilogram to 24.

According to producers, the current situation with prices and interruptions in supplies will “backfire” on the cost of agricultural products; for peasants it will increase by 10-15 percent.

“The situation is alarming,” states State Duma deputy, member of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues Sergei Lisovsky. – For example, in Kurgan the price of a liter of diesel fuel is 68-69 rubles, which is a lot for the region. I spoke with farmers in the Rostov region, and prices there generally reach 120 rubles. This immediately causes a sharp rise in grain prices and, accordingly, places a heavy burden on livestock farming, feed…

– Where do such exorbitant prices in Rostov come from?

– Our diesel fuel is transported directly from local ports, 3-5 thousand tons each, to Turkey and further for export.

– So what should we do? How to stop this flow?

– It is necessary to limit exports and change the tax maneuver invented at one time by the Ministry of Finance. When they began to abolish the export duty and increase the mineral extraction tax. It turns out that our oil is expensive with taxes, but the Russians pay it. And if there were duties, as before, they would be paid by buyers of our fuel in the West. Now taxes fall on the shoulders of our fellow citizens. It is necessary to introduce an export duty and reduce the mineral extraction tax.

According to the parliamentarian, the current situation will not resolve quickly on its own; most likely, in some manifestations it will persist until the end of the harvesting campaign. Which, let’s hope, won’t fail due to fuel shortage.