Александр Новак. Скриншот видео
Damage from drone attacks on Russian oil refineries is declining, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in the Federation Council.
“Our companies, the Energy Ministry and the Defense Ministry have done a great deal of work to strengthen protection. Recently, we have observed that damage from repeated attacks on refineries has been significantly lower. Passive protection tailored to threat models has been put in place. Active protection using air defense systems has also been strengthened,” he said, TASS reported.
According to Novak, companies have learned to restore refinery operations more quickly.
“This allows us to bring back into service more quickly equipment that has been damaged and take it out of repair,” Novak said.
At the same time, he acknowledged that four oil refineries had been attacked today.
“Just last night, four of our refineries came under attack. We effectively repelled all attacks on our facilities. The process equipment was not damaged. At just one refinery, an assessment is currently underway to determine the extent of the damage,” the deputy prime minister said.
Novak assured that Russia is not facing a diesel fuel shortage.
“I can say that the diesel fuel market is balanced today, and there is enough fuel,” he said.
He did not rule out Russia resuming diesel fuel exports.
“Although we extended the export ban for October just days ago, we will monitor the situation and, in the event of diesel overproduction, consider partially reopening exports,” he said.
Gasoline supplies may also resume, but not as quickly.
“Our companies are already partially arranging imports using incentive measures, and this system for bringing in imported petroleum products is now in place. Once our market is balanced, naturally, we will use only our own petroleum products, and we will even return to exporting motor gasoline, as we have always done,” he said.