‘Fuel quality has improved’: fuel testing month underway in Tatarstan

Sampling at gas stations

Specialists from the republican Department for the Rational Use of Fuel and Energy Resources take samples for analysis at petrol stations without warning their owners about the visit.

As the head of the department for ensuring the rational use and quality of petroleum products, gaseous fuels and certification of petrol stations Shamil Gumerov said, since the beginning of the month, specialists have already collected 305 samples at 134 petrol stations in the republic. Four mobile groups are involved in this work, three of which are working in Kazan and the surrounding areas, and one in Naberezhnye Chelny and Nizhnekamsk.

In total, by the end of November, in accordance with the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan, specialists of the Department for Ensuring the Rational Use and Quality of Fuel and Energy Resources in the Republic of Tatarstan will collect 330 samples at more than a hundred petrol stations in the republic.

There are three discrepancies in 142 samples

Each sample is sent to a laboratory where they are checked for compliance with state requirements.

So far, the laboratory has tested 142 samples collected during the month. Three samples were found to be non-compliant. For objective reasons, the names of the petrol stations were not disclosed to journalists. If the owner of the gas station disagrees with the verdict, he or she may request that the analysis be repeated, but in a different laboratory. Only after that can the results be announced. Then the materials are sent to the regulatory authorities. The violator faces a fine.

In case of a need for a repeat test, the fuel is poured into two glass bottles during sampling, each of which is closed, sealed and labelled with a tag containing information about the type of fuel, date, time and place of sampling. One of the bottles is sent to the laboratory, and the second with an arbitration seal is stored for more than a month — in case a non-compliance is found in the sample.

According to Shamil Gumerov, violations are mainly recorded at small petrol stations. Large chains have their own laboratories. And once a month, according to regulatory documents, they check the quality of the fuel sold.

If we talk about the discrepancies that were identified during this month, they all concern diesel fuel.

“Diesel fuel has such an indicator — the maximum filterability temperature. According to this indicator, diesel fuel is of three types: summer, all-season and winter. Now there is a transition from all-season to winter. They have different filterability temperatures, and the tanks at the gas stations are the same. Large gas stations protect the tank, that is, they completely drain all-season fuel and fill it with winter fuel. And small petrol stations, which are located in districts, villages, they can fill up with winter fuel for the all-season, and the temperature there rises a little. Instead of the required -32, it becomes -28, and this is already a discrepancy,” the speaker said.

“We are confident about the quality, we are concerned about the price”

The press was shown the entire process of sampling and testing. After the petrol station, a landing party of journalists went to the laboratory.

“We check the quality of gasoline according to six indicators, and the quality of diesel fuel — seven. We check the fractional composition, fuel density, mass fraction of sulphur, flash point. For example, the most important indicator for diesel fuel is the maximum filterability temperature. It takes at least six hours to test one sample,” said Alfiya Kasimova, a laboratory assistant for chemical analysis of the petroleum products testing laboratory.

According to her, in recent years there has been a positive trend:

“The quality of the fuel has improved. Previously, there were violations related to the content of a large amount of sulphur and resins. Now everything is normal. Ordinary drivers agree with her.”

“I have been driving for more than twenty years. A couple of times in my youth I encountered this when I filled up with low-quality fuel. There were problems with the fuel pump, the car jerked, the dynamics on the highway disappeared. Now there is no such thing, the fuel is high-quality. And I am already experienced, I fill up in proven networks. We are confident in the quality, the price is worrying, which is literally growing every day,” Artyom Alshevsky told a Realnoe Vremya journalist.

The Department for the Rational Use and Quality of Fuel and Energy Resources in the Republic of Tatarstan is taking samples not only during this month. In total, 1,400 samples have already been taken over 10 months this year, including based on consumer complaints.

“We respond to each complaint with an on-site inspection. During the current year, 28 complaints about poor-quality fuel were received from consumers. But not a single complaint was confirmed,” summed up Shamil Gumerov.