Novak: Russian refineries are better protected than in the UAE

Oil refineries in Russia are currently better protected than in the UAE, since the Russian authorities proceed from a tougher threat model.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said this to journalists on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.

"Believe me, our situation is no worse, and perhaps even better, given the experience gained over the past several months. Our design institutes, together with the oil refineries, are working very closely on protecting facilities, and the level, in my opinion, is much better, because it is calculated based on a tougher threat model," he said, answering a question about the need to protect Russian refineries similarly to the UAE, where high metal frames and nets resembling scaffolding are installed around tanks.

Novak noted that protecting the refineries has cost the oil companies quite a lot, but downtime at the plants would have led to even greater losses.

At the end of August, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the protection of Russia's critical infrastructure facilities. According to the document, the Russian government receives the right to introduce temporary management at critical infrastructure facilities if their owners have not taken the necessary measures to ensure security or have violated the relevant requirements. In addition, temporary management may be introduced in the event of a delay in restoring enterprises.

Source: TASS