1/ Russia is considering a return to producing low-quality gasoline to make up for shortages caused by Ukrainian attacks on its oil refineries. However, this is likely to cause damage to vehicles, which owners may find difficult to repair due to a shortage of spare parts. ⬇️ 
2/ Reuters and the Russian newspaper Kommersant report that the Russian government is considering temporarily suspending fuel environmental standards to enable gasoline to be produced at a lower quality, or to include environmentally damaging octane-boosting additives.
3/ Since 2016, Russia has only allowed the production of at least Euro-5 standard gasoline (a standard set by the European Union which is also in effect in a number of non-EU, Asian and South American countries). Modern vehicles are designed to run only on compliant fuel.
4/ Most of Russia's oil refineries were built in the 1940s and 1970s and a number were modernised in the 2000s, increasing Russia's gasoline output and quality. However, the Ukrainian campaign appears to have disrupted several of the most modern refineries.
5/ According to Reuters, the Ukrainian attacks have reduced Russian gasoline output by an estimated 14%. In response, the Russian government is reportedly exploring options to roll back fuel standards to enable outdated but intact refineries to make up the shortfall.
6/ Russia is reportedly considering increasing the amount of octane in its gasoline by adding toluene and the environmentally damaging monomethylaniline (MMA), which was banned in 2016.
7/ However, as experts have noted to the Russian outlet 'Agency. News', this would have highly damaging effects on vehicles. Jan Heitzeer of Russia's National Automobile Union says that low-quality gasoline will seriously reduce the service life of engines, especially diesels.
8/ "When one of the 'experts' say that we have few cars with Euro-6 fuel, he is deeply mistaken. We have a lot with Euro-5 and quite a few with Euro-6. Well, we probably have nowhere to go, we'll have to drive, but we will have to prepare for not the most pleasant times."
9/ A Skoda repair specialist says that "most likely, there will be problems with burnout of pistons, valves and other elements. The fuel will burn poorly, continue to burn in the exhaust manifold, and the temperature there will be significantly higher than it should be.
10/ "All catalysers may burn out, causing the lambda probe to read incorrect readings that will go to the engine control unit. And then it goes in a circle – errors, unstable functioning, and so on."
11/ The Skoda specialist suggested that the situation might end up being like that in Uzbekistan, where the antiquated Soviet-era 'Normal-80' low-octane fuel is still widley used.
12/ "They use gasoline like our old 80. On modern engines, especially in Skoda Kodiak cars, pistons burn out in almost every second car with a mileage of 40,000 kilometers or more."
13/ Replacing damaged components is likely to be more difficult and expensive due to the effect of sanctions, particularly for Western-made vehicles. Kommersant suggests that the proposals are unlikely to be accepted due to the amount of harm they could cause. /end
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