Russian gas stations found selling gasoline with triple the allowed sulfur content

Inspection across 15 regions

The independent MIC fuel laboratory tested the quality of motor fuel in 15 regions of Russia, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, and Vladimir regions. In total, experts took 40 samples of gasoline and diesel. The large-scale inspection was prompted by a temporary government decision to allow the circulation of fuel with lower environmental classes K2 and K3. The results of the inspection were reported by the publication Za Rulem; a brief summary was published by Gazeta.Ru.

Who violated the standards and where

The inspection showed that large chain stations mostly comply with the standards, whereas buying fuel at non-chain gas stations has become a serious risk for drivers. In the Kaluga region, at the NTK Neft gas station, the sulfur content reached 169 mg/kg — which corresponds to the low class K2. A station called Favorit in the Moscow region sold class K3 gasoline (83 mg/kg of sulfur) as premium K5. Violations were also recorded at the Litov-Oil gas station in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Sibirneft in the Vladimir region, and KTK in Kostroma.

Claims against a chain station as well

A major federal player was not spared either: at a Teboil station in the Ryazan region, AI-95-K5 gasoline showed a threefold excess of the sulfur norm — 30 mg/kg. Meanwhile, the Opti gas station in the Tver region passed the test right at the limit (exactly 10 mg/kg), and a Tatneft station in the capital set a positive example: fuel with a sulfur content of 12 mg/kg was sold there as class K4, which is close to the K5 standard. The inspectors had no complaints about the quality of the tested diesel fuel. Earlier, in October, there were already reports of five hazardsposed by class K3 diesel fuel.