Russia’s Novak says fuel export ban yielding positive results

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Saturday that a fuel export ban has started to produce positive results with a decline in gasoline and diesel prices.

Novak told Russian state television reporter Pavel Zarubin, who posted the video on his Telegram channel, that the fuel export ban, introduced on Sept. 21, is mainly aimed at stabilising the domestic market.

The ban covers exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries beyond four ex-Soviet states to try to stem an increase in domestic fuel prices and tackle fuel shortages.

“We see a positive effect from this measure. Firstly, exchange prices fell sharply by 16% to 20% for diesel fuel and motor gasoline. This, in turn, is already filtering through to consumers at the small wholesale level, including agricultural producers,” Novak said.

Novak said on Friday that Russia may introduce quotas on overseas fuel exports if the complete export ban does not succeed in bringing down persistently high gasoline and diesel prices.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)