Russia Doubles Subsidies for CNG Vehicles
The Russian government has doubled subsidies to help businesses and citizens convert their vehicles to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of gasoline, it said on June 21.
Under a decree signed by prime minister Mikhail Mishustin, the subsidy will rise from 30% to 60% of the total cost of converting vehicles.
Russia has set out to expand the market for CNG as a vehicle fuel to 2.7bn m3 by 2024. The country’s 484-strong network of CNG filling stations can currently provide up to 2.3bn m3/yr of gas.
The government’s plan involves the construction of almost 1,300 more CNG filling stations over the next five years. Some rubles 19.3bn ($280mn) from the budget has been set aside for the programme.