Russia: Fuels
Formal technical requirements for motor fuels were introduced by Government Decree No. 118, “Technical regulation on requirements for automotive and aviation gasoline, diesel and marine fuel, jet fuel and heating oil”. The Decree was first passed on February 27, 2008 with a number of changes and amendments made since including: September 25, 2008 (No. 712), December 30, 2008 (No. 1076), April 21, 2010 (No. 268) and September 7, 2011 (No. 748). This decree also harmonized Russian requirements for Euro 3 and later gasoline with EN 228 and diesel fuel with EN 590.
Euro 3 and later harmonized diesel fuels meeting the legal requirements of the above decree are produced to GOST R 52368-2005. Prior fuels were produced to GOST 305-82. The primary difference between GOST R 52368-2005 and EN 590 is that GOST R 52368-2005 has three types of diesel: Type I, Type II and Type III depending on the sulfur content as shown in Table 1. Type III can also be referred to as sulfur-free. GOST R 55475-2013 is a standard for dewaxed winter grade diesel fuel with a 95% distillation temperature of 360°C, the same as for GOST R 52368-2005 summer diesel. GOST R 52368-2005 specifies a maximum 95% distillation temperature for winter diesel of 340°C.
| Fuel | Max. Sulfur | National Implementation Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | First Proposed | ||
| Type I (Euro 3) | 350 ppm | 2013.01 | 2009.01 |
| Type II (Euro 4) | 50 ppm | 2015.01 | 2010.01 |
| Type III (Euro 5) | 10 ppm | 2016.01 | 2013.01 |
The national implementation date for Euro 5 gasoline (10 ppm sulfur) was July 1, 2016.
Prior to 2016, delays in implementing the national standards for fuel quality led to a range of fuel quality available across the country as some refineries completed the necessary upgrades sooner than others.