Crimea could be hit by severe gasoline and diesel shortages within a few weeks after the annexation of the peninsula by Russia cut off the majority of its supplies from Ukraine, senior trade sources in the region said yesterday.
Meanwhile water supplies to Crimea were recently reduced on the North Crimean Canal from 50 cubic meters per second to 16 cubic meters per second, which threatens thousands of hectares of the irrigation-dependent peninsula’s crops, according to local media. The canal, which delivers water from the Dnieper River, starts in Nova Kakhovka in Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
With regard to gasoline and diesel, fuel station owners in the region – some of whom have already described the supply situation as “critical” – are also contending with price cuts ordered by Moscow to bring them in line with Russian prices. Fuel shortages in the run-up to the peak summer holiday season in Crimea, which is expecting a large influx of Russian tourists, could be embarrassing for Moscow as it moves to cement its control over the peninsula.
Gasoline is hardly available and there are no stocks
Ukrainian electricity company DTEK also threatened to cut electricity supplies to the peninsula yesterday over unpaid debts that it said total $60 million.
“The situation can already be described as critical,” said a senior employee at the headquarters of one of Crimea’s service station companies.
“Gasoline is hardly available, there are no stocks. Our management is looking at all ways to find gasoline.”
Russia’s Energy Ministry in Moscow declined to comment on potential fuel shortages in Crimea.
Before being annexed by Moscow, Crimea received the vast majority of its gasoline and diesel from Ukraine by rail and truck transportation, which has largely ground to a halt.
Shipping and trade sources said Russia has not yet been able to compensate for the loss of these supplies by shipping enough gasoline and diesel into Crimea through the small oil port of Kerch in the east of the peninsula. Ferries across the Strait of Kerch from Russia don’t have the capacity to ship sufficient quantities.
“The ferries already lack capacity for steady supplies, never mind high demand during the coming tourist season’s peak,” said a trading source at a Russian oil major.
Excluding military demand, Crimea needs about 300,000 tonnes of diesel and 225,000 tonnes of gasoline each year, according to estimates by industry sources.
That is equivalent to a combined 11,000 barrels a day.