Comrades! Citizens of the Empire! Pray, cast your eyes upon the latest proclamation from the Ministry of Energy, delivered with all the pomp and circumstance befitting a gathering of the high bourgeoisie. In a grand assembly presided over by Vice-Premier Alexander Novak, the Ministry has seen fit to report that the great oil syndicates—those gluttonous titans of Capital—have finally heeded the 'recommendations' to increase the supply of petrol and diesel to our internal markets.

What a spectacle it was! A swarm of functionaries from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Federation Council, and the State Duma, all huddled together with the representatives of the fuel monopolies and regional governors. They spoke of 'price formation' and 'transparency'—phrases designed to lull the working man into a stupor while the usurers of industry continue to bleed the proletariat dry. They cast their gaze upon Tyva, Chuvashia, Udmurtia, and the Belgorod region, as if a mere mention of these lands could alleviate the crushing weight of fuel scarcity.

We are told, with a straight face, that these companies are increasing their volumes and importing fuels of various ecological classes—K2, K3, and K4. They prattle on about 'optimising the schedules' of refinery repairs to prevent shortages. Do not be deceived! This is nothing more than a calculated game of the bourgeoisie, adjusting the valves of supply to ensure that the yoke of exploitation remains tight upon the neck of the labouring classes.

And observe the absurdity of their 'transparency'! They decree that the grade of fuel must be inscribed upon the pump, in the consumer's corner, and upon the receipt. Bah! Does the worker care for the label on the bottle when the cost of the elixir is designed to bankrupt him? This is the vanity of the ruling class—offering us the ink of labels while they hoard the gold of the earth.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry for the Development of the Far East now join this chorus of monitoring. Mr. Novak has commanded that 'sufficient supply' and 'justified prices' be maintained. I ask you: since when has the Capitalist ever known the meaning of a 'justified price'? Their only justification is the accumulation of profit through the misery of others!

To complete this comedy, one Mr. Igor Ananskikh of the State Duma suggests that the dearth of petrol at the pumps is but a mere 'logistical trifle,' not a lack of fuel itself. He promises a resolution in two or three weeks. How typical of the bourgeois apparatus—to dismiss the starvation of the industry as a clerical error of transport!

Wake up, workers! The machinery of Capital does not seek to serve you; it seeks only to sustain its own bloated existence. The 'logistics' they speak of are but the chains they use to bind the producers and the consumers alike in a cycle of eternal servitude!