The Ministry of Internal Affairs report on preventive talks with gas station owners caused skepticism among Dagestan residents.

Gas prices in Dagestan remained unchanged, and the meeting of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic with gas station owners did not yield results, local residents noted on social media, commenting on the agency's report on its intervention in the fuel market situation.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on August 9, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan met with gas station owners and called gas prices unjustified. Telegram users suggested that increasing competition through the entry of federal companies would help lower prices and normalize the situation in the republic's fuel market.

On August 10, a post about the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, Abdurashid Magomedov, meeting with gas station owners and discussing the sharp rise in gasoline prices was published on the Instagram*-page makhachkala_, which has about 248,000 followers. As of 09:50 MSK on August 11, this post received 412 likes and 114 comments.

Social media users stated that after the Ministry of Internal Affairs' intervention, the price of gasoline did not change or decreased slightly.

"They intervened, and the prices remained the same," wrote vacako_511.

"We do not see any changes yet," noted 17927573775389122.

"Today I passed through Khasavyurt – prices did not stabilize, they are staging performances," wrote 18109220624090880.

Only a one ruble decrease in gasoline price was reported by 18482833465098759.

"The price was reduced by one ruble," he wrote.

A ten ruble decrease also did not solve the problem, pointed out 18140075947576546.

"Ten rubles is not much," he noted.

Commentators called for returning fuel prices to the level preceding their sharp rise.

"As it rose, it should be lowered, not by one ruble," wrote user 17877329709620785.

"There is no point in such discussions. Action is needed before the price of 95-octane gasoline and other types of fuel drops to 75-80 rubles," demanded user sport_dag_magazin.

"Now they will lower it by one ruble and say that gasoline has become cheaper," suggested muslim_umma_15.

The price will drop to 100 rubles per liter, after which the previous fuel price will be forgotten, suggested user 17927540856384783.

"The price will drop to 100 rubles, and that's it. What, did you forget how it was before?" he wrote.

The rise in fuel prices has led to an increase in the prices of other goods, pointed out user 17990689706835502.

"The population is dissatisfied not only with this. Those who sell food, building materials, and household goods refer to the rise in fuel prices," wrote the user.

Some users perceived the meeting of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with gas station owners as a show event and called on the authorities to move from discussions to concrete actions.

"A good performance," wrote abubakr58851. "What’s the point? A new performance," expressed a similar opinion user 18119492716675438.

"They intervened, but did nothing," noted majidov_02.

"Did they decide something or just blah-blah?" asked 17950083975230644. "And what’s the result?" asked 18059278538770736.

"The people do not see the result," pointed out 17866445232639365.

The authorities paid attention to the situation too late, believes 18019285760886891.

"They woke up too late," he wrote.

"They should have waited until 2028, they intervened too early," joked gadji_34_05.

User 18614485627062085 reminded that the situation with gasoline prices has been discussed for several months.

"The FAS does not find any effective laws to lower gasoline prices in Dagestan, the prime minister also does not know how to do it, now the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan has intervened. Next, the FSB. Three months have already passed," he wrote.

Other discussion participants called for punishing or closing gas stations whose owners inflate prices, as well as allowing large chain companies into the Dagestan fuel market.

"There are no results. Gas stations with inflated prices need to be closed or fined. They ignore the laws of the Russian Federation," wrote seid_fat.

"Fine or close them, otherwise they won’t understand," agreed 17942892933295874.

"Take everything from them, give it to the chains," called mr.ustar.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the fuel crisis in the southern regions of Russia has led to a sharp increase in demand for the installation of gas equipment. The gasoline shortage led to queues at service stations and an increase in equipment costs.

Long waiting forces drivers to turn to "gray" installers who do not guarantee the safety of the equipment, analysts noted. At the same time, the mass transition of cars to gas will not help overcome the fuel crisis due to the lack of necessary infrastructure, they believe.