Putin expands state subsidies for oil refiners amid Ukrainian strikes on refineries

Russian president vladimir putin has signed a decree that relaxes the rules for providing fuel subsidies to russian oil refineries. Now they will be able to receive state support even if wholesale prices for diesel and gasoline exceed established thresholds.

This is reported by Bloomberg.

According to the document, the new rules will be in effect from October 1, 2025 to May 1, 2026. The decision was made against the backdrop of increased Ukrainian attacks on the russian oil industry, which led to a reduction in oil refining volumes, fuel shortages and rising prices within the country.

The subsidies are designed to encourage oil producers to supply fuel to the domestic market, even when exports become more profitable. Last year, the state spent RUB 1.8 trillion (approximately USD 22 billion) on these payments, and in the first nine months of 2025 – RUB 716 billion.

How russia is trying to save the oil refining industry

Earlier, the russian government had already increased the threshold for compensation: since September, the prices that trigger subsidies have been raised by 10 percentage points - to 20% of the threshold for gasoline and 30% for diesel.

Analysts note that the adopted decision actually guarantees oil refining companies billions in payments from the budget to mitigate the consequences of Ukrainian attacks on russia's energy infrastructure.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on the morning of October 11, long-range drones of the SSU's Special Operations Center "A" hit the Bashneft-UNPZ oil refinery in the russian city of Ufa in the Republic of Bashkortostan, which is 1,400 kilometers from Ukraine.