Current case: 80% of motor oils in Russia may be "outlawed"
Virtually 80% of motor oils in Russia may be "outlawed" from the new year, Izvestia has learned. In 2025, the last three-year certificates issued to domestic producers by foreign laboratories will expire. After that, Russian oils will be formally impossible to produce or sell without such documents. To solve the problem, the country will create a national oil standardization system. But its implementation will take up to three years, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said. How manufacturers will work in the new conditions and what may change in the market of lubricants - in the material "Izvestia".
Oil standardization system
The Ministry of Industry and Trade supported the initiative of the Committee on Regulations of the Federation Council to create a national standardization system for oils and technical liquids. The need for it is overdue because of the obsolescence of GOSTs and the impossibility of testing products abroad, reported "Izvestia" in the press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Implementation of the Russian system of bench qualification tests will take up to three years, the ministry said.
However, according to manufacturers' data, in 2025, the majority of domestic technical fluids will formally be without quality confirmation, as their three-year certificates issued until March 2022 abroad are coming to an end. With the introduction of sanctions it is impossible to officially extend them. And without certificates, this product can neither be produced nor sold. According to the information of Yulia Trushkova, Director of Rolf Group of Companies for service, Russian oil brands occupy 80% of the domestic market. That is, all of them may be "outlawed".
Studies of Russian machine oils were conducted by the International Committee for Standardization and Approval (ILSAC). The American Petroleum Institute (API), the Japanese automotive standardization organization JASO, the International Society of Automotive Engineers SAE and other agencies. No alternative domestic laboratories have yet been established.
Vyacheslav Timchenko, Chairman of the Committee on Regulations and Parliamentary Activities of the Federation Council, sent letters to the government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade at the end of October with requests to develop a national standardization system for machine and transmission oils. At the same time, it was proposed to adopt support measures for manufacturers of oils and chemical additives.
The press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade informed Izvestia that Russia lacks a full-fledged testing base and unified requirements for qualification bench tests, including for engine oils, and the standardized indicators in GOST 17479.1 ("Engine oils") and GOST 17479.2 ("Transmission oils") lag behind the requirements for lubricants for modern machinery.
- Obtaining approval from foreign automakers and passing qualification tests in the relevant specialized centers have become more complicated and to some extent have lost relevance," the agency said.
Senator Oleg Zemtsov, one of the authors of the initiative, told Izvestia that the lack of access for Russian companies to obtain European and American certificates limits their competitiveness, including in the domestic market.
- Under these conditions, it is extremely important to create a domestic industry regulatory system that will synchronize equipment and lubricant manufacturers, as well as developers of additive technologies," said the senator. - It will help ensure independent assessment of the quality of lubricants, including those using Chinese and Russian additive packages.
According to sources close to the industry, with the introduction of sanctions, additive suppliers have changed and, as a result, the composition and formulation of oils have been distorted. Now there is no one to check their quality and compliance with the requirements of automakers.
Test methods used in foreign certification systems for lubricants have no analogues in Russian GOSTs, the Ministry of Industry and Trade notes. At the same time, some of the methods require special equipment exclusively produced by certain foreign companies. The ministry did not answer how domestic producers will work after the expiration of certificates.
The Ministry supported the senators' initiative. According to preliminary estimates of the Institute of Oil and Gas Technology Initiatives (INTI), the development and implementation of bench qualification test methods may take about two to three years.
- This is a standard term - for example, in China, the process of launching bench tests on its engines and putting into operation a test center in the city of Kunlun took three years," the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted.
"Izvestia" sent inquiries to Rosstandart and major oil producers.
Low-quality oils have flooded the market
- Problems with obtaining certificates have a painful effect on the market," Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative (PCI), told Izvestia. - Formally, without these documents it is impossible to work not only on the foreign market, but also on the domestic market. Even a number of government purchases require foreign certificates or their analogs. And it is problematic to obtain the documents because of sanctions.
Izvestia sources close to oil producers told us that one of the ways to certify products is to obtain a document through subsidiary companies using a complex system in friendly countries. However, these steps often put them at a disadvantage compared to their competitors, especially in the markets of other states. Until a national system emerges or sanctions are lifted, difficulties with quality confirmation will persist.
According to the Customs Union technical regulation 030/2012 "On Requirements for Lubricants and Special Fluids", such products are subject to mandatory declaration of conformity. Oils without a certificate can neither be produced nor sold, Ilya Plisov, a member of the Board of the Union of Auto Service Centers, Deputy General Director of EuroAuto, told Izvestia.
At the same time, foreign oils with all certificates but of extremely low quality are imported to the Russian market. Oleg Afanasyev, head of the KAMAZ press service, told Izvestia. Despite the certificates received, often these products are simply dangerous for engines, he noted.
Market participants are concerned about the uncontrolled amount of imported counterfeit and the emergence of unknown brands with low production costs.
- There were cases when supplies of European oil were switched on the way. It is practically impossible to trace this chain," Ekaterina Nevskaya, ROLF's director for auto parts, told Izvestia. - Only independent testing in national laboratories can ensure quality assurance.
There are no oil research centers similar to European ones in Russia, not because they are complicated, but because there are stands with engines testing oils on reference modes. And we do not have these standards yet, Dmitry Danshov, a technical expert and head of Mekhanika, told Izvestia. And independent development of standards for testing will take time, the expert believes.
The work itself on the development of standards is done on the existing base and can be done in less than a year, Ilya Plisov believes. But the adaptation of existing documents and technical regulations, as well as equipment adjustment may take up to three years, he added.
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