Hard times for illegal oil refineries in Chechnya

June 25, 1997 Chechen law-enforcement bodies have intensified combating the economic crime. The preliminary results of an operation to put an end to the theft of oil products and their illegal production and sale became known recently.
Head of the southern oil company YUNKO Hoj-Ahmed Yarikhanov told that the Interior Ministry, within the framework of the operation "Shield of Law and Order, "took special measures to close clandestine mini-refineries manufacturing gasoline and diesel fuel in mountainous and other regions of Chechnya. Most of these illegal refineries were closed.
According to the Chechen Interior Ministry, the republic has over 3,000 such oil-refinery installations. The Chechen leadership considers them as a direct threat to the republic economic security.
The home-made gasoline which is sold in the republic practically in every village is very cheap, Yarikhanov said. According to him, this causes a considerable damage to the state trade in gasoline and other fuel. The Interior Ministry spokesman said that the police also checked the safety of the Baku-Novorossiisk oil pipeline and they closed approximately 750 such illegal installations.