The Ministry of Finance received compensation offers tied to the budget regarding payments made to oil companies for fuel dumpers, according to a report from TASS citing Deputy Minister Alexei Sazanov.
Sazanov described proposals directed at reimbursing budget funds due to adjustments in the fuel damping mechanism. He explained that the official plan is to implement the related changes in November. Earlier, the government decided to revert the damping coefficient to 1 starting in October, yet the accompanying legal documentation was not yet in place. Experts estimate that October payments to oil companies could reach from 255 billion to 291 billion rubles.
The need for changes followed a sequence of events that pushed retail fuel prices higher beginning in July. By mid-September, the market backed a sharp rise: diesel and gasoline brands AI-92 and AI-95 climbed above 70 thousand rubles per ton for the first time in history. In addition to aggressive bidding that boosted prices, the damping mechanism reduction, which took effect on September 1, contributed to the climb. In response, the government halted fuel exports from the Russian Federation as of September 21 and introduced new quotas for selling petroleum products domestically. These measures, in turn, supported a decline in prices within the domestic stock and retail markets.
Observers noted how the price trajectory of gasoline and other fuels in Russia evolved before the adjustments were put in place, with a mix of regulatory actions and market dynamics shaping the outcome for consumers and buyers across sectors.