OREANDA-NEWS  The repair of the catalytic cracking unit at the Lukoil oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod is being delayed indefinitely because the company cannot find spare parts. Reuters writes about this with reference to several sources.

The installation is necessary for processing heavy hydrocarbons into gasoline. It has not been operating since January, which is why the company has reduced gasoline production by 40 percent.

The main problem for the refinery was the sanctions imposed after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Without them, it was necessary to turn to the American company UOP for repair, specializing, among other things, in the production of equipment for oil refining. The situation is also complicated by the lack of specialists in Russia who can repair the installation.

At least ten sources reported that similar problems are encountered at other refineries, which were mostly built or modernized with the help of American and European companies. The difficulties are compounded by drone attacks, which, according to the agency's calculations, have disabled 14 percent of the capacity.

The material indicates that every large refinery in Russia uses a combination of local and Western equipment. At the same time, cooperation with the United States in this area began during World War II, when Washington provided equipment to the USSR as part of the lend-Lease program.

Earlier, Reuters reported a multiple increase in gasoline imports from Belarus. In January, before the start of the accidents, Russia practically did not buy fuel from a neighboring country.

This week, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia is not going to build new refineries because there is enough capacity in the country.