Prices are up, supplies are scarce and patience is running thin in the long gas lines snaking around Moscow.
The price of gas went up 25 percent Friday, from the equivalent of 51 cents to 63 cents a gallon.And a gas shortage began last week after a processing unit malfunctioned at a city refinery.
City officials also blamed crude oil producers, who stopped deliveries, demanding advance payment from the refinery.
Fuel and Energy Minister Yuri Shafranik told reporters Tuesday an unsteady supply was inevitable in an industry crippled by millions of dollars in debts owed by the government and various companies.
The minister also said oil prices should be raised to let the fuel industry catch up with inflation.
"Who'd notice the new prices?" grumbled Sergei Gorin, as he waited with more than 100 cars at a private fuel pump charging three times the price at state-run gas stations.
"There's no gas, anyway."