Russia's gasoline shipments to Afghanistan and Turkmenistan plunged in July even before Moscow restricted exports of the fuel to guarantee affordable supplies in the domestic market, traders told Reuters on Wednesday.
According to traders' data, Russia's gasoline supplies to Afghanistan fell to 9,500 tonnes last month from 33,950 tonnes in June, while exports to Turkmenistan declined to 19,800 tonnes from 39,700 tonnes.
At the same time, Belarus boosted its supplies to Afghanistan to offset the Russian decline, the data showed.
Russia imposed the official export restrictions on gasoline producers at the end of July to bolster domestic supply during a period of brisk seasonal demand.
Ukraine's drone attacks on several Russian oil refineries further complicate Russia's task of meeting demand.
According to traders, gasoline transit from Belarus to Afghanistan rose in July to 29,000 tonnes from 8,100 tonnes in June. July's trend was not repeated for Turkmenistan, which saw its shipments from Belarus fall to 31,540 tonnes from 51,000 tonnes a month earlier.
Traders added that gasoline supplies from Russia and Belarus to Afghanistan and Turkmenistan reached a record 132,700 tonnes in June due to risks of supply disruptions from Iran, a large fuel exporter, due to its conflict with Israel.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Helen Popper)