It quoted a senior Fuel and Energy Ministry official as saying an exchange-rate corridor restricting the ruble's rate against the dollar has hurt petroleum product exporters, who face rising production costs at home.
Russian oil-products exporters are turning to foreign markets even at a loss to keep refinery-storage facilities from backing up and necessitating costly production cutbacks.
In the first half of 1995, Russian producers sent 19.4 million tons of refined oil products abroad, including the Commonwealth of Independent States, Statistics Committee figures show.
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