Gas Crisis Triggering ‘a Forced Spontaneous Federalization’ of Russia, ‘Vyorstka’ Portal Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 14 – Moscow still determines how much gasoline this or that region gets and has prohibited the governments of the federal subjects from trying to end run these limits, but regional officials must contain a rising tide of popular anger and so are trying out a variety of tactics that is leading to “a forced spontaneous federalization” of Russia, Vyorstka says. 

            That means, the portal adds, that governors, in moves recalling what happened during the covid pandemic in 2020, are copying each other’s strategies for handling the crisis within their territories and seeking to “outmaneuver their counterparts in the race to secure supplies” (verstka.media/kak-vlasti-regionov-boryutsya-s-toplivnym-krizisom-i-yarostyu-naseleniya).

            This situation is especially challenging for those governors who are facing elections not only because Moscow holds them responsible for containing any social discontent but also has tied their hands as far as gaining additional gas from alternative sources and has been slow to acknowledge just how serious the gas shortages now are.

            According to Vyorstka, “regional officials say that personal connections with relevant federal officials and top executives at major oil companies—as well as ‘insiders in ministries, State Duma deputies, and other lobbyists’ —quickly came into play in the ’behind-the-scenes maneuvering.’"

            This situation has forced regional governments to focus on controlling lines and offering PR stunts like shifting officials from cars to bicycles. But it is also leading many in these governments to look for someone to blame, most often not the Kremlin itself, of course, but increasingly the oil companies and firms that handle distribution.

            Such steps have done little to curb the rising tide of popular anger, and officials say that additional shortages are likely to generate even more outrage in the population and an even greater sense on the part of regional officials that they are now on their own, having already shown themselves to be more responsive to the situation than the center has been.