MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. Russia's Energy Ministry is seeing improvements in the fuel supply situation in a number of regions across the country, Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev said.

The ministry and regional authorities are jointly implementing measures to ensure adequate supplies of petroleum products to the domestic market based on the needs of each region, the Energy Ministry said.

TASS has compiled the key facts about the fuel situation in Russia.

Fuel supply normalization

The Energy Ministry and regional authorities are jointly implementing measures to ensure adequate supplies of petroleum products to the domestic market based on the needs of each region: "Regional authorities may introduce temporary restrictive measures, depending on the current situation, to ensure the most efficient supply of motor fuel to consumers and businesses."

Special attention is being paid to ensuring uninterrupted fuel supplies for "state and municipal services, including the Emergency Situations Ministry and medical services," while agricultural producers have also been designated as a separate priority category for fuel supplies, the ministry said.

Situation in the regions

Regional authorities may introduce fuel restrictions, with "the volumes and procedures for fuel sales at filling stations determined independently by the leadership of each region," the Energy Ministry said.

Tsivilev said the Energy Ministry is seeing improvements in fuel supplies in a number of regions: "We are seeing stabilization in fuel supplies in several regions, with more filling stations operating and shorter queues."

"Positive trends are being noted in the Trans-Baikal Territory, the Kaliningrad and Irkutsk Regions, Kuban, and Tatarstan. The fuel market is also stabilizing in the Arkhangelsk and Saratov Regions," the minister said.

According to Tsivilev, the improvement has been made possible by government measures, "including the ban on petroleum product exports, as well as decisions aimed at ensuring fuel imports and maximizing refinery utilization."

The Energy Ministry will continue working with the regions to meet their petroleum product needs, the minister added.

Measures to stabilize the fuel and energy sector

Earlier in the day, the Federation Council approved a law introducing measures aimed at stabilizing the fuel market.

The amendments to Russia's Tax Code expand the fuel damping mechanism. Similar to the existing gasoline damper, the mechanism may now also apply to diesel fuel imported by suppliers from foreign markets. The mechanism will operate only while the ban on diesel fuel exports remains in effect.

The law also extends the damping mechanism to middle distillates (an unclassified type of diesel fuel widely used in agriculture, rail transport, and shipping).

In addition, the law revises the rules governing oil companies' eligibility for the reverse excise tax on crude oil processed in Russia.

Under the new rules, direct contracts with government-authorized suppliers, to be designated by the government, will count toward the exchange trading requirement (the volume of fuel a company must sell on the exchange to qualify for the reverse excise tax), in addition to exchange transactions.

Russian authorities are also discussing extending the ban on diesel fuel exports by producers for one month and prolonging the gasoline export ban for six months, TASS industry sources said on Wednesday.