Machine assignment: recycling for gas-powered cars may be canceled
Russia may cancel recycling for gas-powered cars, Izvestia has learned. The measure is designed to increase the attractiveness of gas-powered vehicles for citizens, increase the share of such vehicles and increase fuel consumption within the country. On the other hand, it will facilitate access to imported cars in the Russian Federation, which may negatively affect domestic manufacturers. Currently, the share of gas-powered vehicles in the country is only about 1-2%. Whether the measure will help stimulate domestic gas consumption and increase the share of such cars is in the Izvestia article.
The share of gas-powered transport in the Russian Federation
The authorities are working on the issue of freeing gas-powered vehicles from recycling. The innovation is indicated in the draft plan for the implementation of the Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2050, which is being discussed in relevant departments. Izvestia has reviewed the document.
— The Ministry of Energy fully supports the establishment of benefits for such transport, at least for a certain time period. The updated Energy Strategy sets out quite ambitious goals to increase the consumption of methane as a fuel, the ministry told Izvestia.
The procedure for approving a draft action plan for the implementation of the strategy is currently underway at the interdepartmental level, and it contains measures to provide additional support for gas-powered transport at the federal and regional levels, the Ministry of Energy added.
Currently, there are subsidies in Russia for the production and re-equipment of gas-powered vehicles, as well as for the construction of methane gas stations.
The Russian Energy strategy by 2050 assumes an increase in methane consumption as a motor fuel by 13 times: from 2.19 billion cubic meters. in 2023, up to 21.3–29.3 billion cubic meters. m in 2050. Also at the end of August, the government approved a concept for the development of the market for such fuel for the period up to 2035. The target scenario of the document includes the production of 528,000 units of gas-powered vehicles and the conversion of another 525,000. The number of gas-powered vehicles will only grow, the Ministry of Energy predicts.
Gazprom Gazomotornoe Fuel did not respond to Izvestia's request.
— Currently, the share of gas-powered vehicles is only 1-2% out of about 50 million cars in the country. The potential for the introduction of such transport has so far been little used," said Dmitry Gusev, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Reliable Partner Association.
Vladimir Chernov, an analyst at Freedom Finance Global, believes that the measure being studied by the authorities may be effective in accelerating the growth rate of the methane fleet, as it will reduce the initial costs of buying and registering buses and trucks.
— According to the basic rates today, cars pay 20 thousand rubles, trucks and buses — 150 thousand, special equipment — 172,5 thousand. The total amount is calculated as the base rate multiplied by the coefficient of volume and age, that is, the bill for heavy machinery goes into hundreds of thousands and even millions of rubles," he said.
Starting from December 1, 2025, it is planned to change the order of recycling payments: the coefficient by which the base rate is multiplied will depend not only on the engine volume and age of the car, but also on the engine power. The more powerful the car is, the higher the coefficient will be.
— For individuals importing a car with an engine capacity of up to 160 horsepower, the preferential treatment will remain. For vehicles with power above this limit, the coefficients will increase significantly. This will mean that the cost of citizens to buy cars will increase: in some cases by several hundred thousand rubles, in some cases by millions of dollars," said Dmitry Tortev, a member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition.
Recycling for gas-powered cars is calculated in the same way as for conventional cars. If transport is completely exempt from these fees, Russians will start buying it more actively, Dmitry Tortev believes. According to his forecast, the share of gas-powered vehicles in the total structure of transport may exceed 5% in the next 10 years, including through the import of cars from Asia.
Given that, according to the draft Energy Strategy 2050 implementation plan, the proposed measures should be sent to the government only next year, the planned increase in recycling will most likely affect gas-powered cars and only later it can be canceled, a government source told Izvestia.
The main driver of the development of the gas—powered transport market in Russia is the need to "adjust" the volumes of fuel that have been released due to a drop in its exports, says Valery Andrianov, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government.
— This task prevails over both environmental considerations and the desire to develop our own automotive industry. In other words, it is more important that there be as many gas—powered cars in the country as possible, even by increasing their imports, the analyst believes.
As Izvestia wrote, in 2022, Russian gas exports gradually declined: supplies of raw materials from Russia to Europe were blocked. Nord Stream 1 was stopped due to sabotage, the Yamal–Europe gas pipeline is not being supplied due to Russian counter-sanctions, and Nord Stream 2 has not been put into operation. Before the start of its development, Russia exported more than 200 billion cubic meters of gas annually, of which Europe accounted for about 130 billion cubic meters, experts estimated. In 2024, exports of pipeline gas from the Russian Federation amounted to 119 billion cubic meters, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
What limits the development of gas-powered transport
The factor constraining the development of gas—powered transport in Russia is the heterogeneous distribution of gas filling stations (automobile gas-filling compressor stations, CNG stations) across the country and the insufficient development of a network of service centers for servicing such vehicles, said Dmitry Polokhin, Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Committee on Energy Strategy and Fuel and Energy Complex Development.
— According to various estimates, today in Russia about 1 thousand stations provide services for refueling vehicles with methane (out of about 30 thousand gas stations in the country. — Izvestia). Compared to gasoline and diesel, this is a drop in the bucket. Alas, it is premature to talk about an extensive network of CNG stations. Several dozen such gas stations have been closed over the past three years," said Yuri Stankevich, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy.
The growth in the share of gas-powered transport will have a positive effect on the fuel market: the more types of motor fuels are used in the country, the more stable the system as a whole is and the lower the risk of shortages and price spikes when gasoline or diesel has disruptions in the supply or repair of processing facilities, said Pavel Bazhenov, President of the Independent Fuel Union (NTS).
— At the same time, it is important to understand that the gas engine issue rests not only on recycling, but also on infrastructure. Putting gas equipment at a gas station means tens of millions of rubles of investment, and not every gas station can afford it, and the technological opportunity is not everywhere," he said.
Therefore, the benefits should be accompanied by support for the construction and modernization of gas infrastructure and simplification of regulatory requirements for its operation, then the effect will be really massive, the president of the NTS believes.
In case of cancellation of recycling, there is a risk of an increase in imports of gas-powered vehicles into the country, which means that the state will have to take additional measures, introduce various quotas to support domestic production, said Dmitry Baranov, a leading expert at Finam Management Management Company.
— We fully support the introduction of benefits for owners of gas equipment, but we believe that there is no reason to introduce benefits for the import of imports in the form of cancellation of recycling. In commercial transport (LCVs, trucks, buses), domestic enterprises produce a full range of modern high-tech gas equipment. Russian manufacturers have invested in gas technologies, created capacities, competencies and provide the market with the necessary products," a representative of the Gorky Automobile Plant told Izvestia.
It is also important to take into account that imports do not guarantee the organization of qualified transport maintenance and the provision of spare parts, and this directly affects the safety of transportation, he added.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Today, Russia produces about 300 different models of cars adapted to run on gas. Such equipment is produced by KAMAZ, GAZ, AvtoVAZ and other companies.
The draft Energy Strategy 2050 implementation plan also specifies a number of other possible measures to support gas-powered fuel, in particular, exemption from toll payments for damage to public roads for cars with a permitted maximum mass of over 12 tons for driving on public roads in the Platon system, as well as from toll charges. highways and parking fees.
— Of course, measures to support the owners of such vehicles remain relevant and will be in demand. But their introduction should be preceded by a comprehensive assessment of the economic or other effect, for example, in terms of reducing the negative impact on the environment, — said Yuri Stankevich.
Such an assessment will make it possible to correlate the expected results with the loss of income from taxes and other payments, government-subsidized expenses for infrastructure creation, production and purchase of transport, he believes. The economic situation in the country and the presence of a stable federal budget deficit oblige serious discussion of the proposed initiatives, the deputy added.
Even taking into account the support measures, the share of gas-powered transport in the Russian Federation may not grow, because many people still do not understand its advantages, they see the risks that such cars are more difficult to maintain, and switching to gas does not justify the costs, Dmitry Gusev concluded.
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