Supermarket Sainsbury’s has announced that it is going to be making a major change to its petrol pumps that will affect more than 300 of its stations.
The news comes as Brits up and down the country have been faced with skyrocketing prices in the cost of living, for everything from food to fuel.
According to the RAC , as of May 18, the average price for unleaded petrol in the UK was 168.24 pence per litre, while diesel came in at 181p.
Records for the most expensive fuel have been smashed in recent months as a combination of global factors - particularly Russia's invasion of Ukraine - have piled on to make the problem worse.
Now, the groceries giant is making a bold call that could impact motorists across the country in response to Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sainsbury’s petrol station rule change
Sainsbury’s has said that it will no longer sell diesel produced by Russia and intends to have made sure that the last drop has flowed before the end of the year.
The move comes in line with retailers around the world that have canned the provision of Russian goods in a sign of support for Ukraine and its people, who came under unprovoked invasion on February 24.
The supermarket giant, according to Birmingham Live , made the move for the same reason: to turn its back on the superpower’s unwarranted aggression.
Sainsbury’s food commercial director Rhian Bartlett said: "We stand united with the people of Ukraine and have taken a range of steps to show our support - from helping to fund the humanitarian effort on the ground, to removing products from our stores which are 100% sourced from Russia.
"We have been working hard to reduce the amount of diesel we sell which comes from Russia since the early days of the conflict.
"This is a complex process but we are committed to working together with the rest of the UK fuel industry and government to support the ban on Russian oil imports, which is due to take effect by the end of this year."
Sainsbury’s has already booted products made 100% in Russia, including Russian Standard Vodka.
In March, petrol and diesel prices jolted upwards over fears of the economic shock of the Russian invasion, although it remains to be seen whether or not Sainsbury’s decision to kill the Russian fuel supply will have an impact on the price at the 315 forecourts nationwide.
Wider price trends at the pumps are continuing to go upwards.
