Common Questions

What is the Kirishi refinery and why is it important to Russia?

The Kirishi refinery (KINEF) in Leningrad Oblast processes around 6.6% of Russia's national oil refining capacity. It was forced offline in March 2026 following Ukrainian drone strikes on Baltic export terminals, contributing to Russia's gasoline export ban.Source: event

Why did Russia impose a gasoline export ban in April 2026?

Russia imposed a gasoline export ban from 1 April to 31 July 2026 after the Kirishi refinery and Ust-Luga terminal were forced offline by Ukrainian drone strikes, triggering a cascade of domestic fuel supply concerns.Source: event

How much of Russia's refining capacity does Kirishi represent?

The Kirishi refinery (KINEF) handles approximately 6.6% of Russia's total oil refining output, making it one of the country's largest single refineries.Source: event

Background

The Kirishi refinery — formally KINEF (Kirishisky NefteOrgSintez) — is one of Russia's largest oil processing facilities, situated on the Volkhov river southeast of St Petersburg in Leningrad Oblast. Handling approximately 6.6% of Russian national refining capacity, Kirishi ceased operations in March 2026 as part of a cascade of refinery shutdowns triggered by Ukrainian drone strikes on Baltic export infrastructure. Russia imposed a gasoline export ban effective 1 April through 31 July 2026 in direct response to the closures, with Ust-Luga having already halted all fuel oil and gasoline intake on 25 March.

KIRIHSI dates to Soviet planning as a strategic inland refinery positioned to supply Leningrad (St Petersburg) and the Baltic region. Its product slate includes motor gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and petrochemical feedstocks. The refinery feeds into the Ust-Luga and Primorsk Baltic export terminals that Ukrainian drones targeted four times between 22 and 31 March, collapsing weekly Russian seaborne crude exports from 4.07 million bpd to 2.32 million bpd — a 43% single-week drop.

The forced offline of Kirishi is significant beyond the immediate revenue loss. Russia's domestic fuel supply depends on uninterrupted refinery throughput; the gasoline export ban indicates Moscow is prioritising domestic supply over hard currency earnings. Three further refineries in Yaroslavl, Moscow, and Ryazan face potential cascade shutdowns if the Baltic terminal infrastructure remains offline.

More questions

What happened to Russian oil exports in March 2026?

Ukrainian drones struck Ust-Luga and Primorsk Baltic terminals at least four times between 22 and 31 March, collapsing weekly seaborne crude exports from 4.07 million bpd to 2.32 million bpd — a 43% single-week fall. Kirishi's shutdown was part of the same disruption.Source: Ukrainian drone strike reports

Where is the Kirishi refinery?

KINEF is located in Kirishi, Leningrad Oblast, on the Volkhov river approximately 100km southeast of St Petersburg, Russia.

How the World Sees Them

Russia

Frames the shutdown as a temporary operational disruption; the gasoline export ban indicates Moscow treats domestic supply as the priority over export revenue.

Ukraine/Kyiv

Regards the Kirishi shutdown as strategic success: removing 6.6% of Russian refining capacity disrupts war financing and domestic fuel supply simultaneously.

EU energy markets

Monitors Kirishi's status as an indicator of Russian refinery capacity; prolonged outages affect Russian pipeline product exports that still reach some EU member states.