Russia’s Gas Shortage Strands a Driver in 39-Hour Queue Across Siberia — UNITED24 Media
A driver heading home to Saint Petersburg spent 39 hours in line to buy fuel in the Siberian city of Chita, Meduza reported on July 3.
The driver, identified only as Vlad, described the ordeal to the independent journalist cooperative Bereg, whose interview Meduza carried in full. He and his wife had flown to Vladivostok to collect a newly bought car and were driving it home when the shortage upended their trip.
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Vlad and his wife were driving home from Vladivostok, where they had collected a newly bought car, when they stopped in Chita to refuel. He recounted joining the line at a Rosneft station on the city’s edge on June 28 at 11 p.m. The tank was not filled until June 30, in the early afternoon.
The station sat 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) ahead, he noted, and the queue crept forward roughly 50 meters (164 feet) every 40 minutes. Vlad estimated that around a thousand vehicles were ahead of him.
Footage Vlad posted to Instagram drew thousands of likes and comments, many venting frustration over the shortages.
City stations were dispensing just 15 liters (4 gallons) per car, he explained, blaming suppliers who delivered only 500 liters (132 gallons) per outlet. The Rosneft station he chose capped each fill at 50 liters (13 gallons).
Chita has become a bottleneck for drivers crossing the country. Vlad noted that the last station to the east lies in Skovorodino, an 11-hour drive away, with no fuel in between, funneling westbound traffic from Vladivostok into the same lines.
To endure the wait, the couple rented a hotel room nearby and took turns, one washing and resting while the other inched the car forward, he recounted.
Traffic police were posted at the station because drivers, in his words, “could kill” each other, though he reported no conflicts during his stay.
Most drivers proved reasonable, he added, sharing food, water, and cigarettes over two days spent together. Some cars ran out of fuel while still in the queue and were pushed forward by hand, according to his account.
He expected the crisis to persist but eventually resolve, predicting that larger companies would consolidate the fuel market before conditions stabilized. For now, Vlad noted, his priority was simply reaching Saint Petersburg.
The days-long wait in Chita is one symptom of a shortage now stretching across the country. Russia’s fuel crisis threatens to become the largest in its modern history, with gasoline sales restrictions now in effect in more than 40 regions.
Crude refining fell by roughly a quarter year-on-year in June after at least 50 drone strikes since March idled about a third of national capacity. To cover the gap, Moscow has begun importing gasoline by sea from India and accepting fuel supplies from Kazakhstan.
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