Because I travelled across Russia by train I had no need to refuel a car, but I still saw plenty of petrol stations.
‘Лукойл’ (Lukoil) is the leading fuel retailer in Russia by fuel volume share.
‘Gazprom’ is better known in the west as being a massive supplier of natural gas, but they also run petrol stations.
With their network having expanded by 24% between 2007 and 2011.
The Finnish oil company ‘Neste’ is also getting in on the market.
‘TNK’ (Tyumenskaya Neftyanaya Kompaniya) has around 1,400 petrol stations across Russia and Ukraine, including this tiny one on the banks of the Moskva River in Moscow.
There are also smaller local players such 'Петербургская топливная компания' (Petersburg Fuel Company) in Saint Petersburg.
In 2002 they operated 94 out of 270 petrol stations in the city.