“The Fifth Gas Station”: Who Really Caused the Fuel Collapse in Russia | Sfornews

“THE FIFTH GAS STATION”: WHO REALLY CAUSED THE FUEL COLLAPSE IN RUSSIA

How sabotage, speculation, and tax benefits repeat the scenario of the USSR’s collapse

DISCLAIMER

This material represents an analytical commentary on the statements of economist Mikhail Khazin regarding the fuel crisis in Russia. The material is based on open data and public statements. We do not provide legal assessments but analyze the systemic logic of the situation. All conclusions are probabilistic in nature.

FROM THE EDITORS: WHY WE ANALYZE THE RUSSIAN SITUATION

We analyze the situation in Russia not because it is unique. But because we understand it well — we understand the legal fabric, the historical context, the ownership structure, and the decision-making mechanisms.

The symptoms we observe can manifest in any country in the world. Wherever there are resources, there are attempts to expropriate them. Wherever there are old plants built by the state, there is management that wants to control but does not want to invest. Wherever there is ownership uncertainty, there is degradation and crisis.

This article is a direct continuation of our material “The Agony of the Map: Why the Stock Market No Longer Saves” [1], where we described how the map (financial instruments, legal fictions) becomes detached from the territory (real assets, resources, production). The fuel crisis is the agony of the map in oil refining: plants built by the people became private “assets” on paper, while the real economy is collapsing [1].

INTRODUCTION: KHAZIN SAID WHAT WE WERE THINKING

Mikhail Khazin, an economist known for his systemic criticism, stated:

“The problems with gasoline in the European part of Russia or in Siberia — they are largely caused by sabotage. This is very similar to the gasoline and tobacco problems of the late 1980s — exactly one-to-one. This frenzy is artificially caused by speculation.”

He compares the current fuel crisis with the shortages in the USSR before its collapse. And he names the culprits: “their own people” .

This is not conspiracy theory. This is systemic analysis.

PART 1. THE AGONY OF THE MAP: HOW “STATE” BECAME “PRIVATE”

In our article “The Agony of the Map” [1], we showed how the financial system became detached from the real economy. Stocks and bonds ceased to reflect the territory — they became a map that exists on its own.

The same logic applies to oil refining:

When the map detaches from the territory, management stops investing in real assets. It begins to manage the map — withdrawing profits, requesting benefits, creating shortages.

Legal paradox: According to the Constitution, subsoil is the common heritage of the people. But the plants that process this heritage are privately owned. Between them stands a license for subsoil use, which is essentially a lease agreement, but the real mechanism of state control is absent or ineffective [1].

PART 2. HOW THE USSR WAS DESTROYED: LESSONS FROM HISTORY

Alexey Kapustin, a former instructor of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU who oversaw the food industry, described the technology:

“Once I visited the ‘Aist’ soap factory. The director showed me warehouses packed with soap that would have lasted for five years. But a week later, soap disappeared from stores. Cooperatives brought trucks, paid in cash — bought everything. And then, waiting for panic, they released the soap for sale at inflated prices.”

This is the classic scheme:

Result: the people were driven to despair to justify the liquidation of socialism and the accelerated construction of capitalism.

PART 3. THE 2026 FUEL CRISIS: EXACTLY THE SAME SCHEME

Compare:

USSR (late 1980s)	Russia (2026)
Shortage of soap, tobacco, gasoline	Shortage of gasoline, diesel [2][3]
Speculators bought up goods	Speculators and traders control the market [3]
Corrupt officials turned a blind eye	FAS fines, but the problem is not systematically solved
The West supported destabilization	External factors — sanctions, but problems are internal [2][4]
Socialism declared inefficient	State regulation declared inefficient
Transition to capitalism	Preservation of the oligarchic model

Khazin says: “sabotage.” And he is right.

PART 4. SYSTEMIC EXAMPLE: OIL REFINING IN GERMANY AND KAZAKHSTAN

A parallel process is occurring beyond Russia’s borders. The refinery in German Schwedt, which supplies Berlin with fuel, is in a state of limbo due to ownership confusion. The German government took the refinery under trusteeship after 2022 but refused to fully nationalize it. The plant cannot switch to processing other types of crude oil that differ significantly in composition from Russian Urals.

In Kazakhstan, the Atyrau Refinery, built in 1945 under the Lend-Lease program, is in a zone of uncertainty. The plant does not publish its financial results and regularly appears in accident chronicles.

Everywhere the same problem: old plants built by the state are managed by private management that does not invest, but only exploits [1].

PART 5. WHO CAUSED THE FUEL COLLAPSE?

Version 1. Vertically Integrated Oil Companies and Traders

Vertically integrated companies control production, refining, and sales. They can create artificial shortages by redirecting fuel for export or reducing refinery utilization.

Facts [2][3][4]:

Question: who benefits from the shortage? Those who control the market.

Version 2. Speculators and the “Fifth Gas Station”

As in the USSR with soap, fuel is now being bought up by resellers. They create a frenzy and then sell at inflated prices.

Facts [3][4][5]:

Question: who is behind the resellers? Who gives them money and coordinates?

Version 3. Sabotage Aimed at Obtaining Benefits

We have already analyzed in the article “Oil Refineries: Who Owns the Legacy” [2] how the head of the RSPP, Alexander Shokhin, proposed tax benefits for restoring refineries after drone attacks.

The chain:

Question: isn’t the creation of the crisis part of a strategy to obtain preferences?

PART 6. SYSTEMIC PICTURE: HOW IT WORKS

Stage	USSR (1980s)	Russia (2026)
Creation of shortage	Speculators bought up goods	VICs and traders restrict supplies [2][3]
Panic	People feared being left without soap	People fear being left without gasoline, 18-hour lines [3]
Superprofit	Goods were sold at exorbitant prices	Fuel prices rise, underground sellers at 250 rubles/liter [5]
Blame the system	“Socialism is inefficient”	Putin calls the crisis “temporary” and links it to Ukraine [6]
Beneficiaries	Speculators, shadow economy, the West	VICs, traders, oligarchs
Result	Collapse of the USSR	Industry degradation, price increases, fuel imports [3][4]

PART 7. GLOBAL CONTEXT: RESOURCE EXPROPRIATION

What we see in Russia is not a unique phenomenon. This is a global model that works wherever there are resources.

Western “investments” in third world countries are often not investments but plunder of subsoil and other resources under the beautiful word “development.” Large corporations come, take the most valuable things, and when the resource is exhausted or becomes unprofitable — they leave, leaving behind destroyed ecology and a degraded economy.

The mechanism is the same [1]:

In Russia, this model works in oil refining. Plants built by the people became private “assets.” Management does not invest but withdraws profits. When a crisis occurs, they ask for new benefits [1].

PART 8. WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

Khazin speaks of “sabotage.” We speak of a systemic scheme that repeats itself.

The technology is the same [1][2][3]:

In the case of fuel:

MAIN CONCLUSION

Khazin is right: the fuel crisis in Russia is not an external factor. It is internal sabotage with inaction from regulatory bodies [1][2].

This is exactly how the USSR was destroyed.

The same schemes. The same methods. The same beneficiaries.

Question: who will stop this scheme now?

CONNECTION TO OUR CYCLE “ARCHITECTURE OF NEW REALITY”

This article is a continuation of our material “The Agony of the Map: Why the Stock Market No Longer Saves” [1].

In “The Agony of the Map” we showed:

In this article we show the same logic using oil refining as an example:

Architectural conclusion [1]: Wherever the map detaches from the territory, a crisis arises. And this crisis is always beneficial to those who control the map — because they can create shortages, make a profit, and ask for new benefits.

LIST OF MATERIALS IN THE “ARCHITECTURE OF NEW REALITY” CYCLE

[1] “The Agony of the Map: Why the Stock Market No Longer Saves” — an analysis of how financial instruments became detached from the real economy, and why the old system is agonizing // “Kafedra” and SforNews, 2026.

[2] “Oil Refineries: Who Owns the Legacy and Why It Doesn’t Work” — how plants built by the people became private “assets,” and the crisis exposed their true value // “Kafedra” and SforNews, July 8, 2026.

[3] “Chronicle of Cynicism: 30 Years of the Same Scheme” — analysis of Shokhin’s proposal for tax benefits for refineries // “Kafedra” and SforNews, 2026.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES ON THE FUEL CRISIS

[2] liga.net — “Russia is trying to overcome the fuel shortage: why every solution creates a new problem” (expert analysis of production and shortages), July 5, 2026.

[3] nv.ua — “Russia has completely stopped diesel exports and will import petroleum products for the first time,” July 8, 2026.

[4] charter97.link — “”Fuel pirates” have appeared in Russia” (about fuel thefts), July 8, 2026.

[5] osnmedia.ru — “Bunina stated that the fuel crisis could last until autumn,” July 8, 2026.

[6] unn.ua — “Putin called the fuel crisis in Russia “temporary,”” July 8, 2026.

[7] dialog.ua — “Ukraine’s strikes have made Russians much poorer,” July 7, 2026.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

The material was prepared by the editorial board of “Kafedra” and SforNews magazines. When citing, a link to the original source is mandatory.

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The analysis is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.