RoydadNaft –  Russia has started seaborne imports of gasoline from India, two industry sources said on Wednesday, in an effort to mitigate fuel shortages triggered by ‌Ukrainian attacks on its energy infrastructure.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia was in contact with other countries and discussing imports of fuel at acceptable prices.

Russia’s energy ministry and India’s oil ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

An industry source said ⁠at least 60,000 metric tons of gasoline have been dispatched from India to Russia. Another source said that two tankers, with parcels of 30,000 to 40,000 tons each, have been sent.

A third source said that in total, Russia plans to import 400,000 tons of gasoline from various countries each month, including from neighbouring Belarus, which has already been exporting fuel to Russia.

Gasoline consumption in Russia is at least 110,000 tons per day in summer, when demand for fuel is high.

It is not clear which Indian refiner will be supplying gasoline to Russia.

Belarus almost tripled gasoline rail supplies to Russia to more than 70,000 tons in the first half of June versus the first half of May, according to Reuters calculations and sources.

Russian oil accounted for more ⁠than half of India’s overall imports in June, up from 36.5% in May, the Kpler data showed.

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, received about 2.70 million barrels per day of oil from Russia in June, preliminary data from Kpler and LSEG showed.